Wow. 

I think it's Java? Just really, really bad Java

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Architecture's "Political Compass": A Taxonomy of Emerging Architecture in One Diagram

Observing the architectural landscape today it’s clear that the type of work which is currently ascendant, particularly among young practices, is...

Considering how much architecture can impact the way we interact with the world, it’s fascinating to look at some of the emerging schools of thought in the field

Two New Missions to Explore the Early Solar System

We’ve got big science news…!

We’ve just added two more science missions to our lineup! The two selected missions have the potential to open new windows on one of the earliest eras in the history of our solar system – a time less than 10 millions years after the birth of our sun.

The missions, known as Lucy and Psyche, were chosen from five finalists and will proceed to mission formulation.

Let’s take a dive into each mission…

Lucy

Lucy, a robotic spacecraft, will visit a target-rich environment of Jupiter’s mysterious Trojan asteroids. Scheduled to launch in October 2021, the spacecraft is slated to arrive at its first destination, a main asteroid belt, in 2025. 

Then, from 2027 to 2033, Lucy will explore six Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These asteroids are trapped by Jupiter’s gravity in two swarms that share the planet’s orbit, one leading and one trailing Jupiter in its 12-year circuit around the sun. The Trojans are thought to be relics of a much earlier era in the history of the solar system, and may have formed far beyond Jupiter’s current orbit.

Studying these Trojan asteroids will give us valuable clues to deciphering the history of the early solar system.

Psyche

The Psyche mission will explore one of the most intriguing targets in the main asteroid belt – a giant metal asteroid, known as 16 Psyche, about three times farther away from the sun than is the Earth. The asteroid measures about 130 miles in diameter and, unlike most other asteroids that are rocky or icy bodies, it is thought to be comprised of mostly metallic iron and nickel, similar to Earth’s core.

Scientists wonder whether psyche could be an exposed core of an early planet that could have been as large as Mars, but which lost its rocky outer layers due to a number of violent collisions billions of years ago.

The mission will help scientists understand how planets and other bodies separated into their layers early in their histories. The Psyche robotic mission is targeted to launch in October of 2023, arriving at the asteroid in 2030, following an Earth gravity assist spacecraft maneuver in 2024 and a Mars flyby in 2025.

Get even more information about these two new science missions HERE. 

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

New Evidence Found which Matches Legendary Founding of the First Dynasty of China

A archaeological team from Beijing University have found new evidence that surprisingly fits the ancient Chinese histories’ accounts of the founding of the Xia Dynasty. Previously, historians had dismissed all accounts of the first, second, and third dynasties as fabrications. They were written to glorify the dynasties which came later, not to document what had really happened. But archaeological findings over the last century provided evidence that the second and third dynasties had really existed. The Shang Dynasty you likely heard about in schools. Yup, we had once thought it was a myth. Now science and archaeology may be confirming the earliest dynasty written about existed as well. Read more

Proportional risk

I've begun to develop a strong fear of the weather. Lightning and wind also terrify me. When someone is afraid of flying, there are statistics which could help them understand how little a risk they are actually taking. With this statistic method in mind, is there anything I could remind myself of when I begin to become frightened, that could help relax me a bit? Thank you :)

Lightning is something that’s serious, but with most things as long as you approach it intelligently, you’ll be fine! 

The National Safety Council organized a handy chart of “What are the Odds of Dying From” that has some handy statistics. There’s a lot more things that we are significantly more at risk for statistically than lightning. For instance you have a 1 in 672 chance of dying as a pedestrian in your life while a 1 in 174,426 chance of dying from lightning. Yet we don’t carry the same fear when walking as we do for lightning. 

Something to consider here, we’re much more often “exposed” to being pedestrians than we are exposed to lightning, so this makes a bit of sense that the numbers are so skewed, but the point of fear still stands. 

Lightning is serious business, but as I said earlier we need to approach lightning intelligently. 

If you look at the an analysis of lightning deaths in the US about two thirds of incidents occurred to people engaged in outdoor activities. So basically people that are outside enjoying the day when a storm comes along, and they decide to either watch the storm from an unsafe place, or keep going with the activity. Going further into outdoor “leisure” activities, of that two thirds about 35% of those activities were water related (largely fishing, but hey, why not looks at the study yourself!). 

Worth mentioning, the study also pointed out that 79% of victims were male - being okay with risky behaviours doesn’t make you cool and tough, it makes you an idiot. As the study put it:

Possible explanationsfor this finding are that males are unaware of all the dangers associated with lightning, are more likely tobe in vulnerable situations, are unwilling to be inconvenienced by the threat of lightning, are in situationsthat make it difficult to get to a safe place in a timely manner, don’t react quickly to the lightning threat, orany combination of these explanations. In short, because of their behavior, males are at a higher risk ofbeing struck and, consequently, are struck and killed by lightning more often than females.

Here’s a breakdown of activities people are doing when they die from a lightning strike:

Notice these are all things that are outside! The study stated that things that contributed to lightning fatalities were people’s unwillingness to postpone activities, not being aware of approaching storms (you’re either weatherwise, or otherwise!), being in a vulnerable location, an inability or unwillingness to get to a safe place. 

So how do we be safe during a thunderstorm? Do as the NOAA says “when thunder roars, go indoors”! If you know there are going to be storms that day stay alert and take a glance at a radar map every now and then (lord knows you probably have a smart phone), and have an idea of where you’ll go when a storm is near. If you’re unable to get indoors avoid hilltops, isolated tall objects like poles or trees, spread out if you’re in a group, and try to avoid wet items and areas - these won’t make you safe, but will slightly decrease your risk. The only completely safe action is getting inside a building or vehicle.

Have a look over this page on lightning safety and these tips for more info. 

So bottom line, should you have a healthy respect for lightning? Yes. Should you be terrified of lightning? No. Be smart and follow the safety tips, you’ll be alright. 

Thanks for reading, and I hope this helped!

Hugh Herr: The new bionics that let us run, climb and dance

Jupiter and Io

js

Pretty sure that's a tank

Tinspider’s first steps at the Exploratorium! 🕷

This graphic shows how fast a rocket must go to leave every planet