Cross-Section of the Nerd

NASA Announces There Is A Space-Time Vortex Around Earth

Fri, 06 May 2011 18:17:42 -0400

NASA Announces There Is A Space-Time Vortex Around Earth:

doctorwho:

Ah, now we know why the Doctor visits our planet so often. Via NASA’s website:

Einstein was right again. There is a space-time vortex around Earth, and its shape precisely matches the predictions of Einstein’s theory of gravity.

Researchers confirmed these points at a press conference today at NASA headquarters where they announced the long-awaited results of Gravity Probe B (GP-B).

“The space-time around Earth appears to be distorted just as general relativity predicts,” says Stanford University physicist Francis Everitt, principal investigator of the Gravity Probe B mission.

“This is an epic result,” adds Clifford Will of Washington University in St. Louis. An expert in Einstein’s theories, Will chairs an independent panel of the National Research Council set up by NASA in 1998 to monitor and review the results of Gravity Probe B. “One day,” he predicts, “this will be written up in textbooks as one of the classic experiments in the history of physics.”

Time and space, according to Einstein’s theories of relativity, are woven together, forming a four-dimensional fabric called “space-time.” The mass of Earth dimples this fabric, much like a heavy person sitting in the middle of a trampoline. Gravity, says Einstein, is simply the motion of objects following the curvaceous lines of the dimple.

Read More: NASA’s website

Holy shit.

cross-sectionofthewhovian: videogamenostalgia: Fire - by Drake...

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:47:37 -0400

cross-sectionofthewhovian:

videogamenostalgia:

Fire - by Drake Tsui

deviantART | Twitter | Tumblr

(via: svalts)

Oops, how did this slip onto this blog…

This counts as “nerdy,” right?

Uh-oh. Now the aliens are coming, just when we're unprepared.

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:04:43 -0400

Uh-oh. Now the aliens are coming, just when we're unprepared. :

SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life, has shut down one of its satellite arrays after 90% of its funding was cut by NASA. Now we’ll never know they’re coming…

blaidddrwg42: palahniukandchocolate: dorka:cavesingers: Why...

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:00:02 -0400

blaidddrwg42:

palahniukandchocolate:

dorka:cavesingers:

Why Old Books Smell Good

“Lignin, the stuff that prevents all trees from adopting the weeping habit, is a polymer made up of units that are closely related to vanillin. When made into paper and stored for years, it breaks down and smells good. Which is how divine providence has arranged for secondhand bookstores to smell like good quality vanilla absolute, subliminally stoking a hunger for knowledge in all of us.”

hotcupsoftea: “The human heart stripped of fat and muscle, with...

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:36:49 -0400

hotcupsoftea:

“The human heart stripped of fat and muscle, with just the angel veins exposed.”

Don’t even try to worry about it, someone’s already...

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 12:46:35 -0400

Don’t even try to worry about it, someone’s already got you covered. ;D

Can you spot the photobomb? Look for it around...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 16:23:17 -0400

Can you spot the photobomb? Look for it around 8 o’clock at the moon’s rim. Trollplanet is a troll. ;D

I had to post this. It’s already gone from the store, but...

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 01:07:00 -0400

I had to post this. It’s already gone from the store, but TeeFury had this as a T-shirt for a while, and my absolute favorite heroine of all time has to be Samus Aran (pre-Other M, though, because I haven’t played it yet and I’ve heard they really turn her into a needy bitch or something). I love the Metroid series!

Click through for one version on DeviantArt, here for the other.

I now pronounce you...entangled?

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 01:02:00 -0400

I now pronounce you...entangled? :

Jonathan Keats, a philosopher and artist, is offering to entangle partners on a quantum level in NYC from May 12th to June 18th. It’s absolutely free, so go take your beloved and entangle your photons! The process involves prisms and splitting light and all kinds of fun stuff. It’s totally harmless, go check it out! It’s mostly bullshit, but it’s amusing, romantic bullshit. (Wait…does romance come in any other form?)

Cross-Section of the Whovian!

Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:12:03 -0400

Cross-Section of the Whovian!:

Hey guys, since I lost a follower probably due to the spammination of Doctor Who on this blog, Cross-Section-of-the-Nerd, I’ve decided to split the blogs into my Nerd blog which will just report on science and nerdy things in a better balance, and a new Cross-Section of the Whovian blog to feature all things Whovian. So if anyone’s been following this blog for its DW content, wander over to that one instead, because there probably won’t be any more Whovian goodness on this one.

Unless I find something particularly adorable or awesome or Nerdy.

Lost my first follower today. :(

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:23:02 -0400

Too much DW, probably. I’ll try to find more science for you guys in the future, promise.

Fire the proton torpedoes! CERN's LHC has broken the world record for highest luminosity proton beam!

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:19:21 -0400

Fire the proton torpedoes! CERN's LHC has broken the world record for highest luminosity proton beam!:

Yesterday, the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland broke the world record for most luminous particle beam, formerly held by Fermi lab’s Tevatron in Illinois (that one that’s going to be shut down due to budget cuts in September but recently had that blip in data I blogged about here). A beam’s luminosity is defined by the number of particles it contains, and the LHC has been slowly ramping up its power bit by bit since it began operations in 2009, to finally become powerful enough to accelerate the highest number of particles ever attempted.

More particles = more chances for particles to collide head-on = higher chances for scientists at CERN to detect rare and/or new particles and measure their properties, particularly the fabled Higgs Boson, theorized to give other particles their mass. Hooray for discovering more particles!

silverjadedraven: “Dr. Who” by ComfortLove I like the...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 22:04:36 -0400

silverjadedraven:

“Dr. Who” by ComfortLove

I like the sonic’s effects.

coming soon:drugs for dummies!time lord fashion for dummies!and...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 21:32:47 -0400

coming soon:
drugs for dummies!
time lord fashion for dummies!
and more!

SO GOOD. WANT.

mcflybitches: tornadotornadotornado: freddiebrianjohnandroger: ...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:31:53 -0400

mcflybitches:

tornadotornadotornado:

freddiebrianjohnandroger:

babydestiny:

therushtoomuch:

rochellemc-sykes:

apedophile:

every-winner-has-scars:

thewantedfangirl:

babynathtw:

REBLOG IF YOU STILL THINK SHE’S BEAUTIFUL.

She’s stunning. why does this only have 10 notes?! you shallow people.

Just how she’s going around helping other people who have been victims to attacks etc, just wow. She’s so gorgeous<3

THATS THAT GIRL KATIE FROM THAT SHOW KATIE: MY BEAUTIFUL FACE.

Katie Piper is in fact a beautiful girl, she always was, she still is now. She’s such an inspiration.

she is stunning.

She’s beautiful. :) Although, I wonder what happened to her? Did she get into an accident, or?

Her ex-boyfriend attack her with acid. She still beautiful.

she’s really pretty :) first time i looked at that i didnt even notice like all the scars or anything.

She’s so beautiful <3

I’m not familiar with her, I don’t know who she is, but I read these comments and I’m sharing my support, because I agree, she is still beautiful.

I sadly don’t know what it is, but I like it. Ohwait,...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:49:44 -0400

I sadly don’t know what it is, but I like it.

Ohwait, it’s obviously what happens when that crack in the universe opens too wide…

monkeyslutisblown: phantomqueen: portkeytogallifrey: givemetim...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:53:15 -0400

monkeyslutisblown:

phantomqueen:

portkeytogallifrey:

givemetimeandacrayon-:

yellowverse:

lizzieisthetopbanana:

…BRAIN…CAN’T…EVEN…PROCESS…

THIS. IS. THE. SINGLE. BEST. THING. EVER.

WHOVIANS, JUST. CLICK. PLAY.

SO. MUCH. WIN.

when you thought the coolest people in the world couldn’t get any cooler

This fandom will always and forever be the best fandom.

Oh Christ, you guys are the best. Every one of you.

That’s really all that needs to be said. Ever.

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:45:14 -0400

That’s really all that needs to be said. Ever.

TOMORROW IS TUMBLR'S FINAL DAY

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:41:13 -0400

blancmange:

another-nonsensical-blog:

REBLOG IF YOU KNOW WHY AND YOU ARE GOING TO CONTRIBUTE TO ITS DEATH.

OMG YOU KNOW WHAT’S FUNNY

PEOPLE REBLOGGING THIS THAT DON’T KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING AND THEY’RE LIKE “OH MY GOD WHAT IS HAPPENING”

TROLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLO

Well actually, I’m not even gonna refresh Tumblr after 7 pm so I can avoid any spoilers.

Lulz. I will relish the destruction. It makes me wish they’d change the Tumbeasts to whatever the season premiere monsters are when Tumblr goes down.

doctoraday: Sorry guys, I’m having a super crazy weekend. I...

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 16:32:49 -0400

doctoraday:

Sorry guys, I’m having a super crazy weekend. I promise, next week I’ll answer my messages and share the necessary audiobooks. ;)

Hah. I was wondering where this was. No worries though, life happens. Beautiful pic of Hartnell, though, love it.