Beautiful Timelapse of Aurora Borealis

Are you in need of a distraction from work? God knows I am. Apologies for not blogging in over three weeks :(, work has been especially crazy these past few weeks. Between being on call for a week straight 24/7, public scoldings from both HR and the Claims Department, and twice-weekly safety trainings, I've been hasta los cojones in the workaderk life. Here's something I found via the great tech blog Gearfuse that's helped take the edge off of things.

I spent a week capturing one of the biggest aurora borealis shows in recent years.

"Shot in and around Kirkenes and Pas National Park bordering Russia, at 70 degree north and 30 degrees east. Temperatures around -25 Celsius. Good fun."

Big thanks to the guys over at http://dynamicperception.com for their amazing all-in-one motion control dolly.

Music is Gladiator soundtrack "Now we are free"

Via: Gearfuse

When Horoscopes and Data Geeks Collide...

Ever wonder how the horoscope gurus of every astrology website or your favorite alternative weekly gets their grains of wisdom to produce your horoscope? Does it ever seem like the horoscope you get is repetitive, dull, or not-quite-spot-on?

Well, thanks to the folks at Information is Beautiful, there is now a graphic continuum of the most commonly used words in a sample of over 22,000 horoscopes, filtered by astrological sign.

For my fellow Pisces, here are the most common words:

• better
• life
• feel 
• happy
• change
• matter
• sure
• keep
• emotional
• energy
• decision
• moment

And here's a generic horoscope that could apply to anyone, any sign, at any time of the year, using this same data mining technology:

Here are some of the unique words mentioned for each horoscope across the range of data the researchers at Information is Beautiful catalogued:

Finally, the full range of horoscope traits they found:

Does this fit with your ideas of astrology? Leave a comment and let's hear your take :)

Via: Gearfuse

NASA Gets a Boost From Planet Earth-like Commercial

How do you make an agency like NASA cool again?

This is the question that my favorite new nerd blog, Gearfuse, is asking in their latest post, "The Frontier is Everywhere." I love blogs like Gearfuse because they dare to ask questions that seem too bizarre, sciencey or out-there for most other writers. Everything from amazing music videos by bands with names like the Freelance Whales to the world's largest ice-core drilling operation, to alternate endings to Return of the Jedi.

Which brings us back to NASA. You probably haven't thought of NASA since the shuttle launch you saw when you were in the fifth grade, maybe even the Discovery tragedy. It's been ages since the last (failed) Mars Rover mission. The Chinese may well soon beat us in terms of astrophysical prowess and investment. Everyone's talking about how American students are trailing other countries in math and science education.

So if you happened to be a NASA executive, as thrilling as a job like that might be, it would be tempting to think that the glory days of your agency are behind you. Perhaps, but their marketing division is clearly at the top of their game. They definitely borrowed a lot of cinematic touches from Planet Earth, but it's all in good faith. With unemployment more or less permanently stuck at 10% and states and cities billions of dollars in the red, many people may need convincing that a national space program still deserves our attention (and $$). Happy Friday, everybody! This should lift your spirits just a bit: