The Secret Life of Clouds: CloudSat

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cloudsat/news/secret_clouds.html

The Secret Life of Clouds: New Findings From NASA's CloudSat and A-Train12.12.07

A little more than a year and a half into its primary mission, NASA's CloudSat satellite, working in tandem with the other Earth-observing satellites in NASA's "A-Train," is now yielding a treasure trove of new data that are helping scientists better understand the enormous influence clouds have on Earth's weather, climate and energy balance. Researchers present results that include discovery of a link between observed decreases in polar clouds last summer and a corresponding loss of Arctic sea ice; surprising new global estimates of how frequently clouds rain over Earth's oceans that suggest the need to reassess the intensity of Earth's water cycle and its impact on climate models; and the first global evidence that the small aerosol particles in our atmosphere may be polluting clouds, making them more reflective.

Related Links:

> CloudSat/CALIPSO Launch Press Kit 1.9 Mb (PDF)
> Pre-Launch Audio Clips
> CloudSat Fact Sheet (437Kb - PDF)
> Science Writers' Guide: CALIPSO, CloudSat, GRACE (2.6Mb - PDF)
> Aerosols: More Than Meets the Eye (951Kb - PDF)
> The Importance of Understanding Clouds (449Kb - PDF)
> The Balance of Power in the Earth-Sun System (605Kb - PDF)

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/aim/mystery_clouds.html

the first hot air balloons

hot air balloons

The history of the world took a strange and epoch-making turn on 21st November 1783. For it was on that day that human beings first voyaged through the air and landed safely to tell the tale. The feat was greeted with amazement and admiration and the air age was born  one hundred and twenty years before the Wright brothers flew their powered aeroplane at Kitty Hawk. The balloon was invented in its practical form by the brothers Montgolfiere, papermakers at Annonay, near Lyons. After making paper bags and seeing them rise over the kitchen fire, they build a bigger model and launched it in public in 1783. Then they came to Paris in the same year and constructed their full-scale balloons to carry up animals (19th September) and then human travellers. At first they cautiously tested their inhabited vehicle when safely tethered. Then an order from the king decreed that criminals should be the world's first aeronauts. But this was happily rescinded and two volunteers were found in physician Pilatre de Rozier (as pilot) and the Marquis d'Arlandes, who thus became the first airmen of history. The ascent, as the engravings shows, took place in the gardens of the Chateau de la Muette in the Bois de Boulogne and ended safely after a flight over Paris of five and a half miles, which lasted for twenty-five minutes. The balloon was magnificently decorated in blue and gold with the signs of the zodiac round the crown and round the equator the intertwined royal cipher  alternative with the head of the sun-god Apollo surrounded by rays. The hot air balloon or Montgolfiere as this type came to be called was first suspended limp between the two masts seen here. A fire was then lit beneath the hole in the platform and the balloon was inflated. At the last minute, a brazier was slung inside the neck so that heat could be maintained during the voyage. The two aeronauts stood in the circular gallery round the neck and could stoke or damp down the brazier through portholes. In the same year, 1783, was also invented by Professor J A C Charles, the hydrogen balloon, which soon became the most practical aerial vehicle and was know as the Charliere. This was the type of balloon, which, with few alterations, has persisted until our own day, using hydrogen, coal gas or helium as the lifting medium. The main visual characteristics of the Charliere were the envelope (gas-bag) and the car or basket, which was suspended from a net, which enveloped the bag above.

Nazca Lines

photo gallery: http://www.galenfrysinger.com/nazca_lines.htm

Fish in Space in Motion Sickness Study

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (API) - Seventy-two small fish were briefly launched into space by researchers Thursday, hoping their swimming patterns would shed some light on motion sickness. German researchers sent the cichlids on a 10-minute rocket ride that blasted off from a launch pad in northern Sweden, said Professor Reinhard Hilbig, who was in charge of the project. "They were very happy, I think they want to have another flight," he said. The thumbnail-sized fish were filmed as they swam around weightlessly in small aquariums during the unmanned space flight. The German team will now study the video to see if some of the fish swam in circles because that is what fish do when they experience motion sickness, said Hilbig, of the Zoological Institute at the University of Stuttgart. He said scientists hope the experiment can help explain why some people experience motion sickness while others do not. The mechanisms involved are similar for both fish and humans. Hilbig said the fish landed safely and appeared to be in good condition. Cichlids were picked for the experiment because they are sturdy fish who were deemed to have good chances to survive the stress of a space flight. "Goldfish are a little bit fat and messy, while the cichlid fish is a well-trained, sporty fish with muscles," he said.

Note: the image is of an actual flying fish, but not one of the fish in space. Once I can locate the latter, it will be posted. Ever onward!

Big bird

HO-YEOL RYU
Flughafen, 2005
Ca. 100 x 150 cm
Digital Print
Courtesy Ho-Yeol Ryu

American Thunderbirds: Attack of the Giant Vultures

<---Seven-year-old Marlon Lowe with his mother Ruth, after being carried in the talons of a giant unidentified bird, July 1977.

"A belief once widespread among North American Incian tribes held that great supernatural flying creatures, known as Thunderbirds, cause thunder and lightning. They accomplish the former by the flapping of their wings, the latter by the closing of the eyes. Thunderbirds also war with other supernatural entities and sometimes grant favors to human beings. They are frequently depicted on totem poles."

--Jerome Clark, Encyclopedia of Strange and Unexplained Physical Phenomena (1993)


The link between the mythical thunderbird and the "real" giant birds of modern reports is problematic for cryptozoologists (who study unknown animals), but there is no doubt that stories of the existence such creatures--that is, mammoth, predatory birds--have circulated for centuries in rural America. Pennsylvania is perhaps the most "active" region for Thunderbird encounters, as they continue to be reported from the Black Forest/Alleghany county region, Pine Creek/Kettle Creek areas, and along the Susquehanna river. The birds are described as grey or black, with white ring-necks and white-tipped feathers, with large talons and a wingspan of 15-25 feet (larger in some descriptions). Thunderbird accounts have been traced well into modern times, and continue to be issued nearly every summer. Unfortunately, no comprehensive accounts have ever been published, so far most printed material is spotty, confined mostly to short accounts in local newspapers.

On July 25, 1977, ten year old Marlon Lowe was playing in his yard with three friends when two large birds came at the children. One of the birds swopped first at his friend, who jumped into an inflatable swimming pool to escape, then proceeded to attack Marlon. The boy, weighing approximately seventy pounds, was grabbed by the straps of his sleeveless shirt and lifted over two-feet off the ground, screaming furiously and beating it with his fists all the while. His parents, Jake and Ruth Lowe- who were sitting on the porch at the time, watched their son fly nearly forty feet in the talons of what looked like a monstrous vulture. The bird dropped the boy and the two raptors continued south toward Kickapoo creek. According to the witnesses, the birds had curved beaks, white ringed necks and 10 foot wingspans. Needless to say, the family suffered a great deal of ridicule in the community, and were treated as though they had concocted the story for attention. Despite the bad publicity, the family never retracted their story, not made any profit from the event. Consequently, for the next several dats a series of sightings were reported after Marlon's attack (now referred to as the Lawndale Incident) from across Illinois and Indiana. Using these numerous reports, investigators were actually able to trace the trajectory of the birds' flight. It is interesting to note that some of these witnesses were unaware of the Lawndale Incident, remaining untouched by the publicity.

Wanda Chappell, who saw a huge bird at 7am on her farm in Odin, Illinois on August 11th, issued a detailed account, "It looked like a prehistoric bird. It was really fantastic. The head didn't have any feathers, and it had a long neck, crooked, kind of "s" shaped. The body was covered with feathers...couldn't tell much about the feet, but it had long legs." Mrs. Chappell estimated its wingspan was 10-14 feet.
Hall, Mark. Thunderbirds!: The Living Legend of Giant Birds. Cryptozoology 9 (1990): 94-96.