Vulcan's View 8: Volcanoes and Eruptions Seen From Space for February 24, 2012

It has been almost a month since the last Vulcan's View, so it seemed like it was time to break out another round of excellent images of volcanoes seen from space. This isn't a summary of all the volcanic activity going on right now on Earth - if you want to see that, be sure to check out the latest Smithsonian/USGS Global Volcanism Program Weekly Volcanic Activity Report. There you'll find piles of information about the rumblings across the planet.

Off we go!

The eruption at Puyehue-Cordón Caulle has been puffing along for almost 10 months now with no real signs that it will be coming to a close soon. This NASA Earth Observatory image (above) captures the extent of ash cover in the area near the active vent, but remember, ash from this eruption was spread over much of southern South America (in some places, likely only a few millimeters thick). Trying to estimate how much material was erupted during the last 10 months is tricky because of this dispersal of ash. However, by mapping the thickness of the ash around the volcano and in the outlying regions, volcanologists can make isopach maps that estimate the thickness of ash over a given area, which can then be used to estimate the total volume of ash produced. Another cool feature of this image is that it shows just how complete the volcanic region at Puyehue-Cordón Caulle is, with the Puyehue caldera to the south and the multitude of lava flows and domes related to Cordón Caulle to the north.

Image: Puyehue-Cordón Caulle on January 26, 2012 / NASA Earth Observatory

Erik Klemetti is an assistant professor of Geosciences at Denison University. His passion in geology is volcanoes, and he has studied them all over the world. You can follow Erik on Twitter, where you'll get volcano news and the occasional baseball comment.
Follow @eruptionsblog on Twitter.

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Angry Birds Space: Rovio's High-Risk, High-Reward Game

By Joe Arico | Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:55 pm

Rovio plans to release "Angry Birds Space" across multiple platforms -- iOS, Android, Mac and PC -- on March 22, taking a high-risk, high-reward approach to the hugely-successful franchaise.

The sequel to the hit Angry Birds will feature sixty new levels, along with all new characters and few changes to the gameplay. Angry Birds Space will feature the same basic premise as its predecessor, as the birds fight the evil pigs to win back their eggs, but the space setting will allow players to "have fun with physics."

Developer Rovio filmed a promotional video in the International Space Station, with NASA astronaut Don Pettit demonstrating the type of challenges gravity, or lack thereof, will present players with when the game launches.

"We focused on every detail in development of Angry Birds Space to build a special experience for our fans," said Rovio chief marketing officer Peter Vesterbacka. "I believe we have succeeded well with the game, and we wanted to create something unique around our launch events."

Space will debut to overwhelming expectations, after the original Angry Birds title set new high marks for sales and performance of a smartphone game. Users have downloaded the title more than 11 million times for iOS since it launched in December 2008, and reportedly 40 million users still play the game each month.

Rovio launched several expansion packs such as Angry Birds Rio and Angry Birds Seasons, which have each been downloaded several million times, but Space is the first true sequel in the franchise. The success of everything the developer has released makes the changes to the gameplay in Space even more of a risk.

The title will likely see an overwhelming number of downloads at launch due to users' curiosity, but if they are not receptive to the changes in the series, it won't just hurt sales of the game but damage the Angry Birds brand.

Rovio has expanded outside of smartphone software into toys, apparel and other merchandise. If Space is a hit, the company will continue to grow, but if it flops, look for the developer to revert back to its original formula with its next entry in the series.

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A new set of badges are bringing young Boy and Girl Scouts into the 21st century, catering to an emerging group of "digital natives" integrating technological know-how into every aspect of their lives.

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Astronaut creates LEGO model of International Space Station

As detailed recently by space history site CollectSpace, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa spent a couple hours constructing a model of the International Space Station (ISS) out of LEGO bricks while he was a resident of the ISS during late September 2011. Measuring approximately two feet in length, Furukawa had to construct the entire model within a glovebox. Designed to protect astronauts from hazardous dangers and conduct research experiments, the glovebox is a sealed, clear container with gloves mounted on the sides which allows astronauts to manipulate components in physical and chemical interactions to better understand how gravity alters similar experiments on Earth.

The LEGO bricks were placed inside the glovebox to protect astronauts from losing the plastic bricks inside the space station. According to NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, another resident of the ISS at the time, he stated “A lot of the work dealing with the small pieces had to be done in an enclosure, like a simple payload glovebox. A simple structural one with plastic sides so you could see inside, but a glovebox so you don’t have all of these little pieces getting loose and becoming either lost or potentially getting jammed in equipment or even becoming a flammability hazard.”

However Furukawa did have some difficulty using the glovebox to build the entire replica of the ISS. He stated “The challenging part was using the thick rubber gloves in the containment system because it made me clumsy in building the LEGO space station. I needed to use the system to put many small pieces of LEGO under control in microgravity.”

Furukawa also had to create the station in different sections due to the size of the work space within the glovebox. Once the ISS replica was completed, the model was only allowed to remain assembled for two hours due to concerns over fire. According to the astronauts, exposing the LEGO bricks to the open cabin air was a flammability hazard. 

Due to Furukawa’s interest in LEGO models, Fossum mentioned “He really enjoyed doing that and he kind of became ‘the LEGO guy.’” While on the International Space Station, Furukawa also built LEGO models of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars rover, a lunar exploration rover as well as a communications and global positioning satellite. 

The International Space Station makes about 16 trips around the Earth each day as it travels approximately 17,000 miles per hour while in orbit. Earlier today, astronaut Mike Fossum tweeted about a “stunning” YouTube video demonstrating the orbital path of the ISS. Available in 1080p, the time-lapse video has been digitally altered to appear smooth and almost resembles CGI. 

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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View the original article here

Astronaut creates Lego model of International Space Station

As detailed recently by space history site CollectSpace, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa spent a couple hours constructing a model of the International Space Station (ISS) out of LEGO bricks while he was a resident of the ISS during late September 2011. Measuring approximately two feet in length, Furukawa had to construct the entire model within a glovebox. Designed to protect astronauts from hazardous dangers and conduct research experiments, the glovebox is a sealed, clear container with gloves mounted on the sides which allows astronauts to manipulate components in physical and chemical interactions to better understand how gravity alters similar experiments on Earth.

The LEGO bricks were placed inside the glovebox to protect astronauts from losing the plastic bricks inside the space station. According to NASA astronaut Michael Fossum, another resident of the ISS at the time, he stated “A lot of the work dealing with the small pieces had to be done in an enclosure, like a simple payload glovebox. A simple structural one with plastic sides so you could see inside, but a glovebox so you don’t have all of these little pieces getting loose and becoming either lost or potentially getting jammed in equipment or even becoming a flammability hazard.”

However Furukawa did have some difficulty using the glovebox to build the entire replica of the ISS. He stated “The challenging part was using the thick rubber gloves in the containment system because it made me clumsy in building the LEGO space station. I needed to use the system to put many small pieces of LEGO under control in microgravity.”

Furukawa also had to create the station in different sections due to the size of the work space within the glovebox. Once the ISS replica was completed, the model was only allowed to remain assembled for two hours due to concerns over fire. According to the astronauts, exposing the LEGO bricks to the open cabin air was a flammability hazard. 

Due to Furukawa’s interest in LEGO models, Fossum mentioned “He really enjoyed doing that and he kind of became ‘the LEGO guy.’” While on the International Space Station, Furukawa also built LEGO models of the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars rover, a lunar exploration rover as well as a communications and global positioning satellite. 

The International Space Station makes about 16 trips around the Earth each day as it travels approximately 17,000 miles per hour while in orbit. Earlier today, astronaut Mike Fossum tweeted about a “stunning” YouTube video demonstrating the orbital path of the ISS. Available in 1080p, the time-lapse video has been digitally altered to appear smooth and almost resembles CGI. 

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Space elevator could be ready by 2050, ride takes a week

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Japanese drinks company launches vending machine with free Wi-Fi (as well as drinks)

Car security: Japanese engineers develop seat that knows who’s sitting on it

View the original article here