Different Worlds

Although Tethys and Janus both orbit Saturn and are both made of more or less the same materials, they are very different worlds. via NASA http://ift.tt/1RftqBR

from WordPress http://ift.tt/21DJRz8

Your Friday Evening Briefing: Sepp Blatter, Academy Awards, Syria by ANDREA KANNAPELL and SANDRA STEVENSON

By ANDREA KANNAPELL and SANDRA STEVENSON

Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.

Published: February 25, 2016 at 07:00PM

from NYT NYT Now http://ift.tt/1QmeIJp

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1XQljAH

San Francisco Wants Homeless to Leave Tent Camp, but Some Vow to Fight by THOMAS FULLER

By THOMAS FULLER

The city, which has sought gentler methods to deal with homelessness, is struggling for answers to what many describe as a worsening problem.

Published: February 26, 2016 at 07:00PM

from NYT U.S. http://ift.tt/1LiACQP

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1TbYE31

Hubble’s Blue Bubble

The distinctive blue bubble appearing to encircle WR 31a is a Wolf–Rayet nebula — an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other gases. Created when speedy stellar winds interact with the outer layers of hydrogen ejected by Wolf–Rayet stars, these nebulae are frequently ring-shaped or spherical. via NASA http://ift.tt/1oEvGez

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1LJWgbt

Mathematician Katherine Johnson at Work

NASA research mathematician Katherine Johnson is photographed at her desk at Langley Research Center in 1966. Johnson made critical technical contributions during her career of 33 years, which included calculating the trajectory of the 1961 flight of Alan Shepard. She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Nov. 24, 2015. via NASA http://ift.tt/1QgSqsn

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1WLKzH3

Gordon: What Presidential Candidates Miss About the Economy by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Stagnant pay and a shrinking middle class — a focus of a new book by Robert Gordon, a Northwestern University economist — are among the key issues fueling the insurgent presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Published: February 25, 2016 at 06:49AM

from NYT U.S. http://ift.tt/1Qgkakh

from WordPress http://ift.tt/21ucXRA

Flying Through the Aurora’s Green Fog

Expedition 46 crew member Tim Peake of the European Space Agency (ESA) shared a stunning image of a glowing aurora taken on Feb. 23, 2016, from the International Space Station. Peake wrote, “The @Space_Station just passed straight through a thick green fog of #aurora…eerie but very beautiful. #Principia” via NASA http://ift.tt/1Qyiuyk

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1oBagPE

The Ice Fields of Patagonia

This image, acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8, shows the glaciers of Sierra de Sangra on Jan. 14, 2015. Snow and ice are blue in these false-color images, which use different wavelengths to better differentiate areas of ice, rock, and vegetation. via NASA http://ift.tt/1T4g2qg

from WordPress http://ift.tt/21cA9XR

Three Times the Fun

Three of Saturn’s moons — Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas — are captured in this group photo from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. via NASA http://ift.tt/1PSmkVP

from WordPress http://ift.tt/21l8QHc

Will Democracy Follow Capitalism Into Cuba? by STEVEN RATTNER

By STEVEN RATTNER

President Obama will encounter a different, more enterprising country in his visit next month. But freedom remains a distant goal.

Published: February 19, 2016 at 07:00PM

from NYT Opinion http://ift.tt/1Q6DosL

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1OkyrqD

Jarosite in the Noctis Labyrinthus Region of Mars

This image, acquired on Nov. 24, 2015 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the western side of an elongated pit depression in the eastern Noctis Labyrinthus region of Mars. Along the pit’s upper wall is a light-toned layered deposit. via NASA http://ift.tt/1VsgGvb

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1PWX2DW

Looking Back: Astronaut Mae Jemison Suits Up For Launch

On Sept. 12, 1992, launch day of the STS-47 Spacelab-J mission on space shuttle Endeavour, NASA astronaut Mae Jemison waits as her suit technician, Sharon McDougle, performs a unpressurized and pressurized leak check on her spacesuit at the O&C Building at Kennedy Space Center. Dr. Jemison was the first African-American woman to fly in space. via NASA http://ift.tt/1UawQLh

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1SC3mXa

Commercial Crew Partner Boeing Tests Starliner Spacecraft

Engineers from NASA’s Langley Research Center and Boeing dropped a full-scale test article of the company’s CST-100 Starliner into Langley’s 20-foot-deep Hydro Impact Basin. Although the spacecraft is designed to land on land, Boeing is testing the Starliner’s systems in water to ensure astronaut safety in the unlikely event of an emergency. via NASA http://ift.tt/218F5cG

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1mHAG0L

Flowers Harvested on the Ground and in Space for Deep-Space Food Crop Research

Zinnia plants from the Veggie ground control experiment at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida were harvested Feb. 11 in the same way that crew member Scott Kelly will harvest the zinnias growing in the Veggie system aboard the International Space Station on Feb. 14—Valentine’s Day. via NASA http://ift.tt/247LgjK

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1QjKFkC

Hubble Watches the Icy Blue Wings of Hen 2-437

In this cosmic snapshot, the spectacularly symmetrical wings of planetary nebula Hen 2-437 show up in a magnificent icy blue hue. via NASA http://ift.tt/1O6EZc8

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1oxv1Mc

Astronaut Peggy Whitson Trains For a Spacewalk

NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson trains underwater for a spacewalk at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Whitson is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in late 2016 as part of Expedition 50/51. via NASA http://ift.tt/1muWexu

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1Ke22qQ

Sea Ice and Cloud Streets in the Sea of Okhotsk

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image of cloud streets and sea ice in the Sea of Okhotsk on Feb. 8, 2016. Cloud streets are long parallel bands of cumulus clouds that form when cold air blows over warmer waters and a warmer air layer rests over the top of both. via NASA http://ift.tt/1osc2Tu

from WordPress http://ift.tt/1PD9VTi