Starship Asterisk*

Haha, I love the headgear, aristar.

An amusing thing about roads and traffic congestion... most people think that building new highways or widening them decreases traffic but it actually increases it. A long time ago ( came upon a website about the study of traffic that was very interesting. I wish I could remember where it was. It ma...

Haha apod, I still don't think that's as bad as me imagining the helix nebula as being some kind of massive structure between our galaxy and those behind it and creating some kind of imaginary fun view portal out of it in my mind. I should draw a picture of what was going on in my head. I'm no astro...

Chris and aristar: Chris, you're right, past climate changes could have caused extinctions, especially cataclysmic climate changes from large volcanoes or an impact. I was thinking of a lot of the doomsday news articles I can't get away from (though simply not reading the news has crossed my mind) w...

That's funny, because to come to the conclusion that the smiley didn't look anything like a human, I actually did imagine that I was an alien. I think it's only recognizable if one understands the human concept of representation through simplified line drawings. For instance, a dog may recognize me ...

My favorite part is all the distant galaxies which appear near the center of the nebula. When they look at us, our milky way also appear within the center of the nebula. Edit: er, oops, I guess the nebula is close enough to us that it actually appears as part of our galaxy. My mistake... so easy to ...

Am I the only one who thinks human consumption and agriculture has caused many animals to go extinct and not climate change? Has it been proven that even one animal or plant has gone extinct because of climate change yet?

That video is really fascinating. I'm interested in the reason why all land appears white? I know Scandinavia is cold but it isn't always snow covered. I guess the sensor can't tell the difference between ice and non-ice covered land?

... the :) emote doesn't really look like a human face but we recognize it as one anyway. Several examples to the contrary: http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/smiley_face.asp Those aren't contrary to what I said. Bah, next time I make an illustration it's going to use smiley faces instead of w...

Er, yeah, I didn't think rain drops were really shaped like that. It's an iconic representation. Just like how the emote doesn't really look like a human face but we recognize it as one anyway.

Rain? Touching the ground, right? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Rain_ot_ocean_beach.jpg As far as rain being dark sheets here is my crude understanding of why sometimes a sheet of rain will appear dark and ominous while at other times it will be brightly lit up. http://www.geckz...

As an artist I think I might notice how color affects things a little more than the average person... the color of water is highly dependent on its lighting conditions and the environment. If the sky were red the ambient light would cause any shadows on the clouds to be pinkish and the rain may be a...

I've NOT neglected refraction or internal reflection... nor have these APOD's: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070912.html http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060702.html Are you trying to use these photos to say that rain droplets can't be colored (yes, oversimplification, hopefully you know wha...

I'm probably the only one but the vase shape made me think of these monsters from Zelda, especially on the horizontally squished version:

I thought I might post some links to various photos of sunset reflections in plane windows that show vaguely similar patterns to the original photo. So far it's much more difficult to find them than it was the orange rain and they aren't nearly as similar. scratches http://www.flickr.com/photos/todd...

Oops... I meant geckzilla, NOT geekzilla. My apologies! :oops: (You must be a herper.) I don't know enough about reptiles to really qualify for the title of herpetologist but I do enjoy them and animals quite a lot. As usual I know just enough to be dangerous and not enough to be a professional. No...

A quick Google search shows this is not a unique occurrence. I found a blog with some good photos in it from ground level of orange rain. https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11546739&postID=5708577566870452410 (Click show original post) And a direct link to one of the photos: http://bp1.blo...

Wow, I had no idea this photo could generate so much discussion. My two cents is that it is the same effect as one may see in one of those water light shows. Shine a colored beam in a spray of water and you'll be able to see the light in the water droplets. The colored beam in this case simply being...

Your use of quotation marks confuses me. Easily explained. I essentially agree with what you said. The first four terms are in quotes because I used them loosely and don't care to defend them. The term "scientific documentaries" is in quotes because IMO they are really neither. I see. Ah ...

Your use of quotation marks confuses me.

Personally, global warming could be caused by people or sun or magma, I don't care. I don't deny that there is an average increase in temperature. That much is likely, though I have found reasons to doubt weather station reports especially considering that many of them are placed near urban areas wh...

Why not take photos from near that same spot twice a year and show us what it looks like during summer and winter? Right now all we have is a single photo and a statement that it's all gone with an implication that it will never return. But we don't have a photo of it all gone. I know it's hard to t...

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081120.html

Also visible in the background Capella, Aldebaran, and The Pleiades.

Heh, somehow astronauts drinking their own "urine" is overshadowing this news. Sigh. I agree with your sentiment, but it also bothers me when people say they're drinking their own urine. In that case, everyone had better think really long and hard about where the water they drink comes fr...

Heh, somehow astronauts drinking their own "urine" is overshadowing this news. Sigh.