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Nexiverse
Nexiverse is an exciting new website that offers
social interaction, as well as stimulating and challenging games.
The driving theme of the site is a blend of social networking and
gaming. It employs an embedded chat feature, with no login
necessary, making for an extremely casual and entertaining
experience. Check out the teaser video below and be sure to
visit Nexiverse.com!
Source: Nexiverse
Image Source: Nexiverse
Future of Space Travel
Space exploration has a bright future, thanks to
the efforts of several companies now working to commercialize the
endeavor. SpaceX is a leader in this field, already having
successfully launched their Dragon spacecraft (shown in the picture
above) into orbit. This spacecraft then returned to Earth
after two successful orbits. SpaceX is developing a manned
version of the Dragon, which will be able to carry passengers to the
ISS or other potential space stations. The company is also
planning a mission to Mars, using their Falcon Heavy rocket and the
Dragon capsule.
Source: SpaceX
Image Source: SpaceX
Omega Storm
Have you ever wanted to defend your planet from
falling asteroids?
Robert
Keller has developed a new game,
Omega Storm, in which you can do just
that. The game has an interesting approach, as the objects are
deflected away rather than destroyed. If an asteroid makes it
through your defenses, casualties are calculated based on the size
and speed of the object. If the Earth's population falls below
two, the game is over. An interesting surprise is in store
once all the asteroids are cleared. Omega Storm is free to
play and can only be found here at Sage Infobase. Give it a
try!
Game: Omega Storm
Programmer:
Robert Keller
Comet Hits the Sun
NASA captured a video of a comet falling into the
sun, followed by a CME (coronal mass ejection) burst on the opposite
side. The two events apparently only happened together by
coincidence. According to NASA, the sun is currently
producing many mass ejections, and this one just happened to occur
right after the comet hit. Watch the spectacular video below. Too bad there is
no sound in space.
Sources: NASA
Image Credit: NASA/ESA/LASCO C2
Comet Water
Water is essential for the existence of life as we know it. The planet Earth is soaked with water, especially compared to the other planets in our solar system. Many astronomers have long suspected comets to be the source of water on Earth. There has been a bit of a mystery, though, as most of the comets originally observed contained large amounts of heavy water. Heavy water
contains deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, which is not as common here on Earth. However, according to a new paper written by researchers at the California Institute of Technology, comet Hartley 2 has been more recently observed by the Herschel Space Observatory to contain less heavy water. If this is true of other comets which may have collided with Earth long ago, this would go a long way in supporting the theory that our water came from comets. Drink up!
Paper: “Ocean-like Water in the Jupiter-family Comet 103P Hartley”
Sources: Universe Today, NASA JPL, ESA
Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
