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Want to Be an Astronaut? Check Out These Five Facts!

August 12, 2016 by

Does the kid in you still dream about being an astronaut? If you're still dreaming of walking on the moon, check out these facts from NASA about space suits and walking in space!

1) The temperature in space varies drastically, so it's important that astronauts wear specially designed space suits. The temperature can get as hot as 250 degrees Fahrenheit and just as cold.

2) Without the astronauts in them, a space suit weights 280 pounds on earth, while in space, the suits are weightless. Space suits are custom-made for each astronaut, but there is no difference between male and female suits, except for size.

3) It takes 45 minutes to put on a space suit. Then, an astronaut must wait up to an hour, breathing in pure oxygen, to let the body adjust before going on a space walk.

4) To get used to the weightless feeling of outer space, astronauts practice in their suits in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, a pool filled with 6.2 million gallons of water.

5) Space walks are called EVA, which stands for extravehicular activity. The first EVA by an American took place in June of 1965. The longest EVA to occur was almost nine hours long!

Visit NASA's website for more information.

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What You Don’t Know About Plastic

April 21, 2016 by

Plastic is an important part of your life whether you realize it or not. The world today consumes 600 billion pounds of plastic per year, and this number is anticipated to grow. Since we use plastic so much, we should at least know a little bit more about it! Here are some must-read facts about plastic.

1) The most common form of plastic is polyethylene. This plastic is typically found in grocery bags and water bottles. In fact, it's estimated that more than 100 billion plastic grocery bags are used annually. The average person uses 290 bags per year, and these plastic bags are typically put into use for only 15 minutes.

2) Plastic is forever. Plastic does not decompose naturally, which is why recycling plastic is so important. Recycled plastics are given new life as bottles, fleece jackets, and fiber fillings, among other uses.

3) Plastics represent 13 percent of total solid waste. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that in 2012, the U.S. produced 32 million tons of plastic waste. Of that 32 million tons, only nine percent was sent to be recycled.

20 Things You Didn't Know About… Plastic [Discover]
Plastics [EPA]
Plastic Facts [Kids Go Green]

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Today’s Imponderable: Do Penguins Ever Get Cold?

April 1, 2016 by

Penguins sure are adorable with their silly waddle and their tuxedo-inspired coloring, but they’re actually much tougher than they seem. These cold-climate birds live in the snow and ice, and they make it seem pretty effortless. Don’t penguins ever get cold?

First of all, penguins are quite hefty for their size. Emperor penguins weigh around 66 pounds, much of which is a thick layer of fat underneath the skin, which means that it takes them quite a bit longer to cool off than it would smaller birds. Penguins’ feathers also help to shield them from the Arctic climate. Unlike most birds’ feathers, the feathers on a penguin are very short and have an under-layer of wool-like down, which keeps them warm and dry. As for their feet, penguins have a much more developed circulatory system that enables them to adjust blood flow to the feet depending on the temperature. And, if you’ve ever watched penguins in a zoo or on television, you know that they have the impressive tendency to huddle together in a group to keep one another warm!

Penguins don't freeze, but they do get very, very cold [New Scientist]
Do Penguins Get Cold? [Super Science]
How Penguins Survive Cold Conditions [Cool Antarctica]
Why Penguins’ Feet Don’t Freeze [Today I Found Out]

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Four Fascinating Facts About Humans in Space

November 19, 2015 by

Are you fascinated by space exploration? Do you dream of joining the 12 people in history who've walked on the moon? Before you don your space suit, check out these interesting facts about humans in space!

1) Before you can even think about becoming an astronaut, you must log at least 1,000 hours of flying in a jet aircraft. This will prepare you, at least somewhat, to go from zero to 17,000 miles per hour in less than nine minutes on the Space Shuttle.

2) Once you've been launched into space, astronauts receive 3.8 pounds of food a day. Most of the food is precooked and processed so that it doesn't require refrigeration. Some fresh fruits and vegetables are on board, but they must be consumed within the first couple days. Astronauts can season their meals with ketchup, mustard, and taco sauce, among other condiments provided on the Space Shuttle.

3) The food consumed during Apollo 11 included bacon squares, sugar cookie cubes, beef stew, and fruit cake. The astronauts quenched their thirst with coffee, fruit juice, and orange drink.

4) On Earth, space suits weigh a whopping 280 pounds. It takes the better part of an hour to put on a space suit, and each astronaut wears special undergarments.

For more interesting space facts, check out NASA's website.

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Test Your Knowledge About the Moon With These Fun Facts

March 20, 2015 by

You see the moon on a daily basis, but how knowledgeable are you about Earth's only natural satellite? NASA's Common Moon Misconceptions page is setting the record straight about the moon. Here are a few common moon misconceptions:

False: The moon makes its own light.
True: The moon simply reflects light from the sun.

False: The moon travels around Earth every 24 hours.
True: It takes the moon 27.3 days to complete a revolution around our planet. It completes a full rotation on its axis in the same amount of time.

False: One side of the moon never sees light.
True: Because the moon constantly rotates, there is no "dark side" of the moon; there is simply a side we cannot see. It's more accurately referred to as the moon's "far side."

False: There's no gravity on the moon.
True: The moon does have gravity, but it's less than we're used to on Earth: about 1/6 of Earth's gravity!

Learn more about the moon on NASA's website.

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Six Fascinating Facts About the Solar System

February 19, 2015 by

Dark, mysterious, and rarely traveled, outer space piques the curiosity of people young and old. If your daydreams take you on intergalactic adventures, check out NASA's facts about the planets:

1) The average temperature on Venus is about 900 degrees Fahrenheit. Some areas on this planet are hot enough to melt lead. Likely due to Venus's extreme temperatures, no evidence of life has ever been found on the planet.

2) Mercury is the fastest planet in the solar system: A year on Mercury is equal to 88 days on Earth! Mercury is also the smallest planet in our solar system; it's a little smaller than Earth's moon.

3) Mars is cold and desert-like. It has seasons; however, the conditions of its atmosphere does not allow its surface to retain liquid water for long.

4) Enveloped by rings of ice and rock, Saturn is composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. The planet has three orbiting moons.

5) The winds on Neptune can reach up to 1,600 miles per hour, making Neptune the windiest planet in the solar system.

6) Jupiter has plenty of moons with different climates. One of the four largest moons is covered in ice, while another one of Jupiter's moons is the most volcanically active in the solar system.

Learn more about our solar system by visiting the Solar System 101 page on NASA's website.

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Imponderable of the Day: Why Do Doughnuts Have Holes?

August 22, 2014 by

If you’re like most people, your thought process surrounding doughnuts likely only focuses on where the best place is to get them and which flavors to choose once you get there! If you take a break from enjoying your sugary sweet pastry for a moment and actually think about the mechanics of a doughnut, you may begin to wonder how it got its unusual shape. Where did the signature hole in the doughnut come from?

Doughnuts are very dense, chewy pastries, so the main reason for their middle hole is to ensure that they cook all the way through. No one knows for sure which smart baker first came up with this ingenious idea, but fried doughnuts have been around in some form—with or without the hole—for hundreds of years. There is a longstanding myth that a 1930s sea captain named Hanson Gregory first invented the holed doughnut, but because the only proof is Gregory’s story itself, there’s really no way of knowing if this tale is true!

Holy Grail: Why Do Doughnuts Have Holes? [Cakespy]
Why Do Doughnuts Have Holes? [Today I Found Out]
Why Do Donuts Have Holes In The Middle? [Knows Why]

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Learn About Endangered Animals Near You on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website

May 9, 2014 by

Since its inception in 1973, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) has demonstrated success in its mission to "protect and recover imperiled species and the ecosystems upon which they depend." Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the ESA separates dwindling species into two categories: Endangered, which means it's in danger of extinction; and Threatened, which means the species might become endangered in the near future. In the U.S., the ESA has been instrumental in restoring the populations of the Grizzly bear, Steller sea lion, Atlantic leatherback and green sea turtles, and the whooping crane, to name a few. However, there are still more than 1,500 endangered and threatened species in the United States.

If you want to learn about said species—some of which might even be right outside your front door—surf over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website. There, you'll find an interactive map that spotlights threatened and endangered species in all 50 U.S. states. Click any state of the map to find an alphabetical list of a state's periled species, info about where a species is commonly found within a state, plus intel on the species' recovery plans. Success stories are highlighted, too, showcasing the positive impact of the ESA initiative.

Get to Know Your Species [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
Endangered Species Act Overview [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
ESA Basics [U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
110 Success Stories for Endangered Species Day 2012 [Center for Biological Diversity]

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Explore the World of Science With These 2 Websites

February 14, 2014 by

The world of science covers a wide range of areas, from astronomy to geography to biology. Whether you’re an experienced scientist or a student who simply loves science, these fascinating websites will provide hours of video, audio, and text devoted to your favorite subject.

Popular Science
The beloved science magazine Popular Science now has a website with just as much up-to-date scientific news. Here you’ll find the latest information about technology, cars, aviation, space, geology, and a variety of other universally appealing subjects. The Popular Science website also features high-quality video, beautiful photo galleries, and links to interesting blogs that you won’t find in the print magazine.

Science Mag
Science Mag is a science website with a more intellectual tone, covering both the latest news in the science world and new findings from various fields. High-resolution images and exciting podcasts make the site more interactive, and webinars allow visitors to really become a part of the research. Science Mag covers the worlds of medicine, geology, technology, and a number of other subjects, and it even offers aspiring scientists advice for breaking into the field of science.

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