Aerosols over North American

Aerosols are small particles or liquid droplets in the air that can be tracked to better understand the dynamics of our atmosphere. This computer model was created by NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office to visualize the movement of sea salt, dust, and smoke across North America and the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Smoke from the forest fires in the Pacific Northwest can be seen billowing across the continent while dust from the Sahara Desert is blown all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Numerous hurricanes can be seen traversing the Atlantic Ocean and impacting the Caribbean Islands and the United States mainland.

NASA used its Goddard Earth Observing System mathematical models in conjunction with observation satellite data to produce this complex representation of the currents of the atmosphere. These models help provide a better understanding of our planet's weather and climate.

Source: https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/12772 (NASA Goddard)

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Cleavage of DNA by CRISPR-Cas9

Scientists have used atomic force microscopy to visualize the real-time dynamics of CRISPR-Cas9 as it binds and cleaves a strand of DNA. The high speed imaging technique captures the Cas9 enzyme as it searches for, binds to, and cuts a matching DNA sequence. CRISPR has received extensive media coverage over the past few years because of its ability to easily edit genetic material.

Source: https://goo.gl/VVqavp (Gizmodo)
Nature Communications: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01466-8

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Aerial-Aquatic Microrobot

Scientists at Harvard University have created a microrobot that can traverse both aquatic and aerial environments. The millimeter-sized robot is propelled using flapping wings that run at 220 - 300 Hz in air and about 9 - 13 Hz in water.

In order to transition from swimming to flying, the microrobot uses a small chamber to perform electrolysis, which converts water into a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen gases (oxyhydrogen). This increases the buoyancy of the microrobot and allows its wings to rise above the surface of the water. However, this is insufficient to escape the surface tension of the water, so the gases are then ignited to propel the microrobot upwards into the air.

Source: https://goo.gl/fBpcaf (Wyss Institute)

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First Interstellar Object Observed By Astronomers

Astronomers have observed what they believe to be the first interstellar object entering the solar system from elsewhere in our galaxy. The small asteroid or comet -- designated A/2017 U1 -- is an estimated 400m in diameter and moving remarkably fast at 25.5km/s.

It was first detected on October 19th by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Haleakala, Hawaii, during a routine search for near-Earth objects. The extreme orbit of the object, nearly perpendicular to the ecliptic plane, led researchers to conclude that it likely originated from beyond our solar system. On October 14th, A/2017 U1 passed within 24 million kilometers of Earth (~60x the distance to the Moon) on its way back to interstellar space.

Source: https://goo.gl/Dv7BAv (NASA)

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Neutron Star Merger

On August 17th, a gravitational wave was detected by the US-based LIGO and European-based VIRGO observatories. A couple seconds later, NASA's Fermi space telescope picked up a pulse of high-energy gamma-ray radiation from the constellation Hydra. Astronomers across the planet were notified of the event and over the next few days, hundreds of telescopes turned their eyes towards a galaxy located 130 million light-years from Earth.

For the first time ever, scientists have detected gravitational waves and light generated as two neutron stars merged together. Neutron stars are the leftover cores of massive stars that exploded as supernovas long ago. They are the densest known objects in the Universe, squeezing a mass equivalent to that of the Sun into a sphere only a few miles in diameter.

As the two neutron stars spiraled together, they shed energy in the form of spacetime-distorting gravitational waves. When they finally merged, an immense burst of gamma-ray radiation was expelled, a phenomenon long hypothesized by astrophysicists. The light from this kilonova was imaged by both Earth- and space-based telescopes for days after the event was first detected.

Source: https://goo.gl/vfttC6 (NASA)
Learn More: https://goo.gl/xewu6M (LIGO)

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Cheetah in Slow Motion

Cheetahs are the fastest land animals on the planet, capable of reaching top speeds of 112 km/h (70 mph) during short bursts. They are famous for their high-speed pursuit of prey across the plains of Sub-Saharan Africa and are frequently featured in nature documentaries.

This female cheetah from the Cincinnati Zoo was recorded using a high-speed camera (1,200 fps) mounted on a sliding rig. She traversed a 100 meter distance in only 5.95 seconds, reaching a top speed of 98 km/h (61 mph). This GIF depicts a 0.4-second segment of that sprint and reveals the rapid leg motion and stability required to attain such high speeds. The cheetah uses its long tail to perform rudder-like steering in order to make sharp turns while chasing prey.

It is estimated that only 7,100 individuals remain in the wild, prompting calls for the cheetah to be classified as an endangered species. Habitat loss, poaching, and the illegal pet trade have all contributed to the significant decline over recent years.

Source: https://vimeo.com/53914149

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Superacid vs. Tangerine

The classical definition of a superacid is any acid with an acidity greater than that of 100% pure sulfuric acid (H2SO4). In highly concentrated solutions, the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation used to define the pH scale breaks down due to large variations in the activity coefficients. In order to measure the acidity of very concentrated solutions, a similar metric known as the Hammett acidity function (H0) was introduced. Using this scale, 100% sulfuric acid has an H0=-12.

The acid used in this GIF is chlorosulfuric acid (HSO3Cl), which has an H0=-12.78, therefore making it a superacid. It reacts violently with the water in the tangerine skin to yield sulfuric acid and hydrogen chloride (HCl) gas. The sulfuric acid then reacts with the sucrose of the tangerine via an intense exothermic dehydration reaction to produce carbon in its black graphite form.

Source: https://youtu.be/cTLBrqcuLBU (Chemistry Flicks)

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