Dec 19, 2017 Martian formations are similar to those found elsewhere in the Solar System, including Earth. Lichtenberg figures are discussed many times in previous Picture of the Day articles. They are forking shapes that lightning bolts make when they strike Earth or some man-made object. Their unique configuration…
Dec 18, 2017 More electric biology. A previous Picture of the Day described the way that some single-celled organisms make use of charge exchange in order to drive their flagella. Rather than the conversion of ATP, they move protons along special cellular structures, converting that flow of electric charge into…
In the first five installments of this series, we outlined some of the most compelling evidence that the role of electromagnetism throughout the cosmos is vastly more significant than modern space science has ever entertained. So far, we have explored this question through an examination of the highest energy electromagnetic…
Lightning Scarred Earth, Part 2 By Andrew Hall In Lightning Scarred Earth, Part 1, Shiprock was presented as an example of a pinnacle created by lightning. Fulgarites are created when lightning strikes and current penetrates the ground, leaving a hollow tube of glassy, fused material behind. Current from the lightning…
Dec 15, 2017 Rotating motors propel some bacteria. Editor’s note: The Picture of the Day will be on a brief holiday until December 19. In the interim, please enjoy these articles from the archives. Some bacteria can swim through their tiny worlds. They accomplish this feat with the aid of…
Dec 14, 2017 Why do coronal holes accelerate the solar wind? Recently, the Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded a coronal hole as it moved across the Sun’s photosphere, causing a storm of charged particles to blast toward Earth. Heliophysicists believe that coronal holes are regions of “open magnetic fields”. The…
Dec 13, 2017 Matter in the plasma state is electrically active. According to a recent press release, collimated jets result from matter falling into the putative gravity field of a black hole. As stellar matter orbits closer, it is said to accelerate, causing violent collisions among the jet particles, generating…
Dec 12, 2017 Vertical cliffs around the world are not easy to explain. The Karakoram mountains are one of the largest mountain ranges on Earth, extending from Pakistan to India and into China. Among its largest peaks is K2, an 8600 meter massif that once was considered impossible to…
Dec 11, 2017 Dark theories challenged again. “It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt, It lies behind stars and under hills, And empty holes it fills, It comes first and follows after, Ends life, kills laughter.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien Previous Picture of the…
Lightning Scarred Earth, Part 1 By Andrew Hall The blue-white arc of a lightning bolt stuns the senses. Blinding radiance, elemental beauty, awesome power and primordial danger flash into existence from thin air and vanish before the mind catches-up. We stare, immobile, unthinking and awestruck. In that moment, a channel…
