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Aurora Shimmer, Meteor Flash Some night skies are serene and passive -- others shimmer and flash. The later, in the form of auroras and meteors, haunted skies over the island of Kvaløya, near Tromsø Norway on 2009 December 13. This 30 second long exposure records a shimmering auroral glow gently lighting the wintery coastal scene. A study in contrasts, the image also captures the sudden flash of a fireball meteor from the excellent Geminid meteor shower of 2009. Streaking past familiar stars in the handle of the Big Dipper , the trail points back toward the constellation Gemini , off the top of the view. Both auroras and meteors occur in Earth's upper atmosphere at altitudes of 100 kilometers or so, but aurora caused by energetic charged particles from the magnetosphere , while meteors are trails of cosmic dust . Nine years after this photograph was taken, toward the end of this ...

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Gift Guides Inhale, exhale, and inhale again. For your scent-loving friends and family, gift them something good for the nose. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2AYKCfQ"

Space InSight rumbles with alien Martian wind. Two sensors on the Martian lander InSight have picked up signs of wind—and you can hear them. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2PpHOgV"

DIY Enhance your conversations. Emojis are a crucial part of messaging apps, but we waste too much time hunting down that perfect smiley face or animal. Here's how to easily find the right reaction. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2rnqks6"

Tiny Planet Timelapse You can pack a lot of sky watching into 30 seconds on this tiny planet. Of course, the full spherical image timelapse video was recorded on planet Earth , from Grande Pines Observatory outside Pinehurst, North Carolina. It was shot in early September with a single camera and circular fisheye lens, digitally combining one 24-hour period with camera and lens pointed up with one taken with camera and lens pointed down. The resulting image data is processed and projected onto a flat frame centered on the nadir , the point directly below the camera. Watch as clouds pass, shadows creep, and the sky cycles from day to night when stars swirl around the horizon. Keep watching, though. In a second sequence the projected center is the south celestial pole , planet Earth's axis of rotation below the tiny planet horizon. Holding the stars fixed, the horizon itself rotates a...

Animals Justin Schmidt feels the burn so you don’t have to. Justin Schmidt loves studying bugs, which means he’s gotten some painful nips and stings from his subjects. He decided to turn that agony into something useful. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2E6OZIV"

Gift Guides The only gift guide you need to read. Gifts for people you love, like, and tolerate, because not all friendships are equal. And we totally get that. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2rt0bYF"

Environment We’re on track for a worst-case scenario. Global carbon emissions are on the rise again, despite rising productivity for renewable energy, and concerns about climate change. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2AYwLGl"

Double Take: A Trip to Toyland By Kristi Finefield If you are a regular reader of the Double Tak e series, you'll know that I often come across photos that pique my curiosity while in the course of looking for something else. Today's entry started much the same way. Within in a search for images of Abraham Lincoln, I hit upon an unexpected photo. The caption was: Lincoln, Abraham A. Stuntz . I wasn't sure what to expect in a photo with that caption. Would it be a portrait of one or two people? The photo of a building seen below was definitely a surprise. LINCOLN, ABRAHAM A. STUNTZ . Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1913. https://ift.tt/2G78XpA Time to investigate further! My first thought that this photo simply had a completely wrong caption was proven incorrect by looking closely at the photo. The awning over the front door has the name of A. Stuntz, so the name does bel...

Science A taxidermied man, a real-life Wolverine, and a professional farter. Sorry, flatulist. English philosopher Jeremy Bentham was taxidermied. The U.S. Air Force tested an ejector seat with a black bear. There are many weird science facts—here are 12 from The… via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2SxG0o8"

Science It’s a well-oiled machine. Chile's high-altitude ALMA observatory is fully operational, and changing the story of planet formation. via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2RFyM1d"

Technology This super precise recreation shows VR has a future in history. Vintage Digital Revival launched a demo of its virtual reality experience “Titanic Honor and Glory.”… via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2RN8Fpq"

* Minor CPU performance improvements with certain types of art content * Reworked the Global Item Loadout page to make shuffling items easier to work with. * Fixed Last Hit Trainer bugs * Various SFM improvements (material overrides, health bars, etc) via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2rqtj35"

Today's Deal: Save 50% on Vampyr and 33% on the DLC The Hunters Heirlooms !* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Sunday at 10AM Pacific Time via Steam RSS News Feed "https://ift.tt/2L30PW1"

Health But you should probably be more worried about not getting enough. At this point we should all know that we need to get eight hours of sleep per night. Any less and you’re functioning below normal. But is it possible to get too much… via Popular Science "https://ift.tt/2BWgLXd"