In The End, However, The Best Safeguard Was Flight; Or, As A Late Fifteenth-century German Manuscript

Purchasing power of Europe’s population by 2-digit postcodes, 2016

I had an interview today and I totally rocked this question:

Interviewer: How would you explain DNA to an 8 year old?

Me: I would tell them that DNA is like Legos. Like four different colored legos. Individually, they can't do much, but when you build them in a certain order, you can make different things, like a house or a tree or little lego people. It's the same in your body. Four different DNA molecules fit together to create the unique you.

Interviewer: *brief pause* That's a really good answer.

Me: Thank you. I like Legos and science.

Squishy physics!

How physicists see other fields:

Biology: squishy physics

Geology: slow physics

Computer Science: virtual physics

Psychology: people physics

Chemistry: impure physics

Math: physics without units

Yikes! [http://imgur.com/0mHJob3]

NASA and Star Trek

Star Trek debuted in September 1966 and in its various incarnations, the series has been an inspiration to many, even some of us at NASA. The series allowed its fans to explore “strange new worlds” and to dream of what could be right in their living rooms. To celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary, we’ve collected some Trek-themed photos featuring Star Trek cast members and NASA astronauts. 

Serious Business

The STS-54 crew of the space shuttle Endeavour in their official “gag” photo are costumed as the bridge crew of the Enterprise as depicted in the movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” The photo was taken on the Star Trek Adventure set of the Universal Studios California theme park in Los Angeles, California, while the crew was on a west coast training and public relations tour during the Summer of 1992. From left to right: 

Greg Harbaugh (Mission Specialist/Engineering Officer)

Mario "Spock” Runco Jr. (Mission Specialist/1st Officer/Science Officer) 

John Casper (Commander/Captain) 

Susan Helms (Mission Specialist/Communications Officer) 

Don McMonagle (Pilot/Navigation-Helm Officer) 

“I have been, and always shall be, your friend”

Astronaut John Creighton shows the on board Graphical Retrieval Information Display (GRID) computer, which displays a likeness of Mr. Spock aboard STS-051G, June 18, 1985.

“A Keyboard… How Quaint”

Actor James Doohan (who played engineering genius Montgomery Scott in Star Trek) sits in the commanders seat of the Full Fuselage Trainer while astronaut Mario Runco explains the control panel during a tour of Johnson Space Center on Jan. 18, 1991. 

“You Wanted Excitement, How’s Your Adrenaline?”

Actress Nichelle Nichols (Uhura in Star Trek) toured Johnson Space Center in Houston on March 4, 1977, while Apollo 12 lunar module pilot and Skylab II commander Alan Bean showed her what it felt like inside the Lower Body Negative Pressure Device and showed her how the Shuttle Procedures Simulator operated. 

Nichols paid us another visit in 2012 and 2015 with the Space Traveling Museum. 

Infinite Diversity, Infinite Combinations

European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti gave the Vulcan salute aboard the International Space Station shortly after the passing of Leonard Nimoy on Feb. 28, 2015. She commented on Tweeter: “ ‘Of all the souls I have encountered.. his was the most human.’ Thx @TheRealNimoy for bringing Spock to life for us”

Live Long And Prosper

While visiting Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX, George Takei (Hikaru Sulu on the original series) had the chance to exchange Vulcan salutes with Robonaut on May 29, 2012. 

“Let’s See What’s Out There”

Scott Bakula, who played Captain Jonathan Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise, stands with astronauts Terry Virts and Mike Fincke on set. The two astronauts made guest appearances on the series finale episode “These Are The Voyages …” March 2005.

Boldly Going For Real

Above is the crew of STS-134, the next to last shuttle mission, in their version of the 2009 Star Trek movie poster. 

The crew of Expedition 21 aboard the International Space Station also made a Trek-themed poster in 2009, wearing uniforms from Star Trek: The Next Generation with the Enterprise NX-01 silhouette in the background.

Learn more about Star Trek and NASA.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com 

This is an art project I made in seventh grade, and to this day is the coolest thing I’ve ever made. It can be a wall decoration or a costume peice or whatever you want to do with it short of stopping an actual sword. If anybody is curious as to how one makes something like this, you need: - a big ass piece of cardboard - a big ass piece of foil - a shitload of Elmer’s liquid glue - a box cutter or super strong scissors - masking tape - a sponge - shoe polish - steel wool - a pencil and eraser if you like - (a straightedge and/or yardstick?) - (protractor?) Take the bigass piece of cardboard and draw your design in pencil. You’ll be raising lines or areas with the glue, so keep that in mind with your design. The raised will be the lighter parts. If you like, you can use a straightedge or something to make it look neater. Put a layer of glue over every line you want raised. Do the edges of every large area, but don’t fill it in yet. Let it dry, then repeat until you have a sizable bump. Fill in any raised areas you want with more glue (you will need a ton). Try to not let the glue run over the raised edges of the planes. It’ll take a while to dry after that. Once your design is glued to your satisfaction, let it dry. Trim the edges using the box cutter to get it to the shape you want. Then spread a layer of glue over the top of your project and carefully lay down the big ass piece of foil over the top. Be very careful not to wrinkle it too much, but spread it down as close to the surface as possible without ripping it. Fold the excess foil around the back and secure it with glue and masking tape. Take a sponge and shoe polish and apply liberally over the top of your project. Let it dry. Take the steel wool and rub the shoe polish off of the areas that are raised and supposed to be silver as opposed to black. Voila! A beautiful shield of your own design. Depending on how you want to use it, you can either attach a handle or something to the back or a method of hanging it from the wall. Enjoy!

Terrifyingly accurate

A sky full of stars over Williamsville, VT

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Stay safe, you guys

Live wind map of hurricane Matthew – expected to make landfall in FL late tomorrow