Winning a staring contest with the abyss

Artist Problems:

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:40:09 -0700

stars—-thunderbird:

Falling asleep while drawing in bed.

99terminater: Is it just me or do all artists have really crappy handwriting?

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:20:13 -0700

99terminater:

Is it just me or do all artists have really crappy handwriting?

spaceplasma: NASA Probe Gets Close Views of Large Saturn...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:11:37 -0700

The spinning vortex of Saturn's north polar storm (false-color image)

False-color image of Saturn's north pole.

spaceplasma:

NASA Probe Gets Close Views of Large Saturn Hurricane

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn’s north pole.

In high-resolution pictures and video, scientists see the hurricane’s eye is about 1,250 miles (2,000 kilometers) wide, 20 times larger than the average hurricane eye on Earth. Thin, bright clouds at the outer edge of the hurricane are traveling 330 mph(150 meters per second). The hurricane swirls inside a large, mysterious, six-sided weather pattern known as the hexagon.

“We did a double take when we saw this vortex because it looks so much like a hurricane on Earth,” said Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini imaging team member at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. “But there it is at Saturn, on a much larger scale, and it is somehow getting by on the small amounts of water vapor in Saturn’s hydrogen atmosphere.”

Scientists will be studying the hurricane to gain insight into hurricanes on Earth, which feed off warm ocean water. Although there is no body of water close to these clouds high in Saturn’s atmosphere, learning how these Saturnian storms use water vapor could tell scientists more about how terrestrial hurricanes are generated and sustained.

Both a terrestrial hurricane and Saturn’s north polar vortex have a central eye with no clouds or very low clouds. Other similar features include high clouds forming an eye wall, other high clouds spiraling around the eye, and a counter-clockwise spin in the northern hemisphere.

A major difference between the hurricanes is that the one on Saturn is much bigger than its counterparts on Earth and spins surprisingly fast. At Saturn, the wind in the eye wall blows more than four times faster than hurricane-force winds on Earth. Unlike terrestrial hurricanes, which tend to move, the Saturnian hurricane is locked onto the planet’s north pole. On Earth, hurricanes tend to drift northward because of the forces acting on the fast swirls of wind as the planet rotates. The one on Saturn does not drift and is already as far north as it can be.

“The polar hurricane has nowhere else to go, and that’s likely why it’s stuck at the pole,” said Kunio Sayanagi, a Cassini imaging team associate at Hampton University in Hampton, Va.

Scientists believe the massive storm has been churning for years. When Cassini arrived in the Saturn system in 2004, Saturn’s north pole was dark because the planet was in the middle of its north polar winter. During that time, the Cassini spacecraft’s composite infrared spectrometer and visual and infrared mapping spectrometer detected a great vortex, but a visible-light view had to wait for the passing of the equinox in August 2009. Only then did sunlight begin flooding Saturn’s northern hemisphere. The view required a change in the angle of Cassini’s orbits around Saturn so the spacecraft could see the poles.

“Such a stunning and mesmerizing view of the hurricane-like storm at the north pole is only possible because Cassini is on a sportier course, with orbits tilted to loop the spacecraft above and below Saturn’s equatorial plane,” said Scott Edgington, Cassini deputy project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. “You cannot see the polar regions very well from an equatorial orbit. Observing the planet from different vantage points reveals more about the cloud layers that cover the entirety of the planet.”

Cassini changes its orbital inclination for such an observing campaign only once every few years. Because the spacecraft uses flybys of Saturn’s moon Titan to change the angle of its orbit, the inclined trajectories require attentive oversight from navigators. The path requires careful planning years in advance and sticking very precisely to the planned itinerary to ensure enough propellant is available for the spacecraft to reach future planned orbits and encounters.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI

daunt: chuck-charles: i made a makeup tutorial for all my...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:09:58 -0700

daunt:

chuck-charles:

i made a makeup tutorial for all my fellow feminists out there bye

this is the best, I am totally going to do this lol

aoibhel: tinuhhhhh: magicrobotgeography: scribbles-and-slash: ...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:07:39 -0700

aoibhel:

tinuhhhhh:

magicrobotgeography:

scribbles-and-slash:

I usually don’t take pictures of strangers and post them online but…

Today at Target this lady was being dragged by her two sons into the toy aisle and since I was looking at Transformers I happened to see them go by. These boys were REALLY excited about something and I wasn’t sure what, so out of curiosity I peeked around the “boy’s aisle” and….

They were grabbing tons of different dolls and accessories and begging their mom for them and what she told them was priceless.

She didn’t say no because they were boys who wanted “girl’s toys”….she said,
“You already have Ariel, don’t you want someone else?”
And one of the boys just kept yelling how Ariel was his favorite.

Their mom was just so frustrated and exhausted like they must beg her for princess toys all the time and they probably have so many back at home and I’m sorry but that’s just adorable ;w;

That’s like this one time I was in the toy aisle at Wal-Mart and this lady and her son walked past me, and I heard her mumble something about Monster High dolls, and her son got really excited about them. So, they walked past this one doll and he made grabby hands at it and you know what his mom said? “That’s a knock-off toy, you want the real thing don’t you?”

And I just thought it was utterly priceless because it’s like, “good job, mom, no generic toys for your child.”

Boys can be princesses, too.

Can I add how much I love this? Back in the Dark Ages when I was 5 (1975) I came home from kindergarten and begged my parents to buy me Sweet 16 Barbie. That Saturday I went with my parents to grocery shop, have lunch at our favourite soda counter, and stop into my favourite toy store in childhood, Play Time. My dad brought me down the small aisle where Barbie was housed and asked me “Which one is it you want?” I pointed to her and he said “Are you sure that she’s the right one?” She was. My dad picked her up off the shelf, walked to the counter and bought me my first of many dolls. Over time as my Barbie collection expanded my dad built houses for them for me, made clothes for them and played Barbie with me.

My dad playing Barbie with his gay child taught me what it takes for a man to be a man. This mom in the picture and above story rocks. This is how you parent.

iamthepizzaslut: iamthepizzaslut: one time when i had just started dating, a boy came to our door...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:48:47 -0700

iamthepizzaslut:

iamthepizzaslut:

one time when i had just started dating, a boy came to our door to take me out on a date and my stepdad opened the door with a machete like “WHATCHYA WAN BOI” and i never heard from him again which sounds dramatic but my stepdad looks like

GUYS STOP THIS ONLY HAS A LITTLE OVER 100 NOTES BUT HE THINKS HE’S INTERNET FAMOUS NOW

brokenhalelujah: i want a scene where all the teenagers are discussing the virgins theory with...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:50:09 -0700

brokenhalelujah:

i want a scene where all the teenagers are discussing the virgins theory with chris and stiles says that he’s the only one of them in danger and chris says “and allison” and they all stay silent and chris shoots scott multiple times with normal bullets

Photo

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:33:08 -0700

Photo

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:33:01 -0700

melisica: Chemical world by ~lacafeine

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:31:11 -0700

melisica:

Chemical world by ~lacafeine

halequeens: /sighs happily. he’s perfect.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:30:48 -0700

halequeens:

/sighs happily. he’s perfect.

tomofgods: guitarriffsandcolouredpicks: elphabaforpresidentofga...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:28:38 -0700

tomofgods:

guitarriffsandcolouredpicks:

elphabaforpresidentofgallifrey:

goodfeelsforbadguys:

Hardcore jacket porn.

you know you’ve been on tumblr too long when you see this as fem!doctor, fem!sherlock, fem!suit dean winchester, and fem!jack harkness

accurate post is accurate ^^

Wait.. Do you tell me it ISN’T fem!doctor, fem!sherlock, fem!suit dean winchester, and fem!jack harkness?

suizdejinn: rocksymom: Home is where your wi-fi connects automatically. This needs to be on a...

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:45:45 -0700

suizdejinn:

rocksymom:

Home is where your wi-fi connects automatically.

This needs to be on a shirt

sekra: it’s like working with children.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 11:11:33 -0700

sekra:

it’s like working with children.

tanwencooper: sterek au meme: hitchhiker au for...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 21:40:09 -0700

tanwencooper:

sterek au meme: hitchhiker au for lavenderviolets

I saw this and thought of a little web comic called The Less Than Epic Adventures of TJ and Amal. If you’re a Sterek fan and not read that webcomic yet, go do it now. You will not be disappointed.

anothertimesforgottenspace: reblog

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:20:30 -0700

anothertimesforgottenspace:

reblog

streaming for a bit

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:47:48 -0700

not doing sound today, dogs are manic and air conditioners on. Come watch me freehand some spiderwebs bitches!

Http://www.livestream.com/xkxdx

thsmiths: IT REALLY ANNOYS ME HOW ONLY GIRLS GET CALLED OUT FOR SWEARING TOO MUCH BECAUSE “ITS NOT...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 15:50:02 -0700

thsmiths:

IT REALLY ANNOYS ME HOW ONLY GIRLS GET CALLED OUT FOR SWEARING TOO MUCH BECAUSE “ITS NOT LADYLIKE” FUCK YOU IM NOT HERE TO BE “LADYLIKE” IM HERE TO KICK ASS

Photo

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:28:51 -0700

wandererstryding: if you think having thick hair is a blessing youre wrong

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:18:28 -0700

wandererstryding:

if you think having thick hair is a blessing youre wrong