Photograph via kikootwo on Reddit Back in the year 2000, a 1,003 kilogram (2,211 lbs) meteorite was discovered near Fukang, a city located in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, China. Named the ‘Fukang meteorite‘, it was identified as a pallasite, a type of stony–iron meteorite, with striking olivine crystals throughout. Pallasites are extremely rare…
The Allure of the Seas is the largest passenger ship ever constructed and the statistics are simply mind-boggling: – 225,282 GRT (gross register tonnage) – 1,187 feet (362 meters) long – 215 feet (66 meters) wide – 213 feet (65 meters) high from the water line – 30 feet (9.1 meters) draft – 22 knots…
Introduced in 2002, Roomba is a series of autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners sold by iRobot. Under normal house conditions, the Roomba is able to autonomously vacuum the floor while navigating a living space and avoiding obstacles. Roombas do not map out the rooms they are cleaning. Instead, they rely on a few simple algorithms…
COMBAT HOVERCRAFT Photograph by Sarah E. Ard/U.S. Navy The Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) is a class of air-cushion vehicle (hovercraft) used as landing craft by the United States Navy’s Assault Craft Units and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). They transport weapons systems, equipment, cargo and personnel of the assault elements…
At the end of every quarter the Sifter will highlight the top 25 ‘Pictures of the Day‘, culminating in an epic Top 100 at the end of the year (check out the ‘Top 100 POTDs for 2012‘). It’s hard to believe we’re already a 1/4 of the way through 2013. Below you will find…
Vintage Submarine Control Room from 1918 Photograph via Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Have you ever seen so many valves? I count at least 23! You are looking at the control room of the UB-110 German Submarine (looking aft, starboard side). The photograph was recently uploaded to Flickr Commons by the…
Standing at the end of a runway, Jeffrey Milstein captures images of aircraft moments before landing. Carefully positioned and using a high-resolution digital camera, he photographs them from below as they streak past at speeds up to 175 miles per hour (281 km/h). Milstein’s favorite spot for photographing aircraft is runway 24R at Los…
AURORA ASTRALIS FROM SPACE Photograph by NASA/JSC/Joe Acaba The Expedition 32 crew onboard the International Space Station, flying an altitude of approximately 240 miles (386 km), recorded a series of images of Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, on July 15, 2012. NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, flight engineer, recorded the…
At the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC) in Maryland, you will find the US Department of Agriculture’s Low Temperature Scanning Electron Microscope (LT-SEM). One of the LT-SEM’s uses is for the study of snow crystals. Hydrologists study photographs of the grain sizes, shapes and associations in relation to passive microwave remote sensing in an…
LANDING FROM SPACE Photograph by NASA/Carla Cioffi Poof! The Soyuz TMA-04M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 32 Commander Gennady Padalka of Russia, NASA Flight Engineer Joe Acaba and Russian Flight Engineer Sergei Revin in a remote area near the town of Arkalyk, Kazakhstan, on Monday, September 17, 2012. Padalka,…
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