Off Topic The "That's interesting"/geek thread

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It does what is says on the tin...

I will get the ball rolling with this...

 

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If Carlsberg did cr@p threads...

Sorry, just another off topic thread to ease the boredom of the summer break.

 

Please keep this thread interesting and light hearted

 

looks yum

 

wheres the feathers

 

I find this interesting


NASA's Van Allen Probes Spot an Impenetrable Barrier in Space
Two donuts of seething radiation that surround Earth, called the Van Allen radiation belts, have been found to contain a nearly impenetrable barrier that prevents the fastest, most energetic electrons from reaching Earth.

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The Van Allen belts are a collection of charged particles, gathered in place by Earth’s magnetic field. They can wax and wane in response to incoming energy from the sun, sometimes swelling up enough to expose satellites in low-Earth orbit to damaging radiation. The discovery of the drain that acts as a barrier within the belts was made using NASA's Van Allen Probes, launched in August 2012 to study the region. A paper on these results appeared in the Nov. 27, 2014, issue of Nature magazine.

“This barrier for the ultra-fast electrons is a remarkable feature of the belts," said Dan Baker, a space scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder and first author of the paper. "We're able to study it for the first time, because we never had such accurate measurements of these high-energy electrons before."

Understanding what gives the radiation belts their shape and what can affect the way they swell or shrink helps scientists predict the onset of those changes. Such predictions can help scientists protect satellites in the area from the radiation.

The Van Allen belts were the first discovery of the space age, measured with the launch of a US satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. In the decades since, scientists have learned that the size of the two belts can change – or merge, or even separate into three belts occasionally. But generally the inner belt stretches from 400 to 6,000 miles above Earth's surface and the outer belt stretches from 8,400 to 36,000 miles above Earth's surface.

A slot of fairly empty space typically separates the belts. But, what keeps them separate? Why is there a region in between the belts with no electrons?

Enter the newly discovered barrier. The Van Allen Probes data show that the inner edge of the outer belt is, in fact, highly pronounced. For the fastest, highest-energy electrons, this edge is a sharp boundary that, under normal circumstances, the electrons simply cannot penetrate.

Read the rest at https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/van-allen-probes-spot-impenetrable-barrier-in-space

 

Here's how I got the nickname Steelmonkey.....

Unfortunately, most of the towers I climb it's pissing down with rain

 

Wow, top post Kiwi

 

Also wow

Not quite in the same league as what you do Steel's, but I did a stint as a trainee lightning conductor installation person. I'm not scared of heights but when high up and with heavy plus restricting
tool belts and heavy copper rods on a windy day I just could not adapt to these working conditions. You have a cool and very risky job mate

 

my new favourite thread

 

There's nothing like having a good crap, thank you Thomas Crapper.

 

So the old saying goes that lightning does not strike in the same place twice...

Well thats just a load of cobblers tbh, look...

Lightning strikes much MORE than twice in these stunning snaps showing electric bolts hitting iconic landmarks around the world

• Tower Bridge, the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower are among the sites captured in striking shots
• CN Tower, the Great Pyramid of Giza and Dubai's Burj Khalifa also hit by lightning bolts that streak through the sky
• Dramatic storms fill the skies above the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and skyscrapers in Shanghai
• One photograph captures the moment the One World Trade Center was struck by lightning during a storm last week

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Tower Bridge is one of the iconic sites that has been captured being struck by lightning in these stunning photographs

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The Eiffel Tower is lit up in blue as it is hit by a lightning bolt that zig-zags across the Parisian sky

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Photographer Jason Bennee captured the moment the Great Pyramid of Giza was struck by a burst of light during a storm in Egypt

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...world-stunning-photographs.html#ixzz5GYeriDjW
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

 

And I would not like to live in this super tall building personally...

Burj Khalifa https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa

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It's like being on the barnsley board