House of El

why are you such a big whiny baby?

Frigatebirds, seagoing fliers with a 6-foot wingspan, can stay aloft for weeks at a time, a new study has found. The results paint an astonishing picture of the bird’s life, much of which is spent soaring inside the clouds.

Frigatebirds are unique among aquatic birds. Their feathers are not waterproof, so they can’t rest on the waves. Males sport a vivid red pouch along their throats that they inflate when trying to attract females. They’re known for stealing food from other seabirds.

Since the frigatebird spends most of its life at sea, its habits outside of when it breeds on land aren’t well-known — until researchers started tracking them around the Indian Ocean. What the researchers discovered is that the birds’ flying ability almost defies belief.

Nonstop Flight: How The Frigatebird Can Soar For Weeks Without Stopping

Our Juno spacecraft was carefully designed to meet the tough challenges in flying a mission to Jupiter: weak sunlight, extreme temperatures and deadly radiation. Lets take a closer look at Juno:

It Rotates!

Roughly the size of an NBA basketball court, Juno is a spinning spacecraft. Cartwheeling through space makes the spacecraft’s pointing extremely stable and easy to control. While in orbit at Jupiter, the spinning spacecraft sweeps the fields of view of its instruments through space once for each rotation. At three rotations per minute, the instruments’ fields of view sweep across Jupiter about 400 times in the two hours it takes to fly from pole to pole.

It Uses the Power of the Sun

Jupiter’s orbit is five times farther from the sun than Earth’s, so the giant planet receives 25 times less sunlight than Earth. Juno will be the first solar-powered spacecraft we’ve designed to operate at such a great distance from the sun. Because of this, the surface area of the solar panels required to generate adequate power is quite large.

Three solar panels extend outward from Juno’s hexagonal body, giving the overall spacecraft a span of about 66 feet. Juno benefits from advances in solar cell design with modern cells that are 50% more efficient and radiation tolerant than silicon cells available for space missions 20 years ago. Luckily, the mission’s power needs are modest, with science instruments requiring full power for only about six out of each 11-day orbit.

It Has a Protective Radiation Vault

Juno will avoid Jupiter’s highest radiation regions by approaching over the north, dropping to an altitude below the planet’s radiation belts, and then exiting over the south. To protect sensitive spacecraft electronics, Juno will carry the first radiation shielded electronics vault, a critical feature for enabling sustained exploration in such a heavy radiation environment.

Juno Science Payload:

Gravity Science and Magnetometers – Will study Jupiter’s deep structure by mapping the planet’s gravity field and magnetic field.

Microwave Radiometer – Will probe Jupiter’s deep atmosphere and measure how much water (and hence oxygen) is there.

JEDI, JADE and Waves – These instruments will work to sample electric fields, plasma waves and particles around Jupiter to determine how the magnetic field is connected to the atmosphere, and especially the auroras (northern and southern lights).

JADE and JEDI

Waves

UVS and JIRAM – Using ultraviolet and infrared cameras, these instruments will take images of the atmosphere and auroras, including chemical fingerprints of the gases present.

UVS

JIRAM

JunoCam – Take spectacular close-up, color images.

Follow our Juno mission on the web, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr.

It’s Earth Day, and what better way to celebrate than to show you a glimpse of our various efforts to protect and understand our home planet.

We’re able to use the vantage point of space to improve our understanding of the most complex planet we’ve seen yet…EARTH! Our Earth-observing satellites, airborne research and field campaigns are designed to observe our planet’s dynamic systems – oceans, ice sheets, forests and atmosphere – and improve our ability to understand how our planet is changing.

Here are a few of our Earth campaigns that you should know about:

KORUS-AQ (Korea U.S. - Air Quality)

Our KORUS-AQ airborne science experiment taking to the field in South Korea is part of a long-term, international project to take air quality observations from space to the next level and better inform decisions on how to protect the air we breathe. Field missions like KORUS-AQ provide opportunities to test and improve the instruments using simulators that measure above and below aircraft, while helping to infer what people breathe at the surface.

This campaign will assess air quality across urban, rural and coastal South Korea using observations from aircraft, ground sites, ships and satellites to test air quality models and remote sensing methods.

NAAMES (North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study)

Our NAAMES study takes to the sea and air in order to study how the world’s largest plankton bloom gives rise to small organic particles that influence clouds and climate. This study will collect data during ship and aircraft measurement campaigns and combine the data with continuous satellite and ocean sensor readings.

IceBridge

Operation IceBridge is our survey of polar ice, and is kicking off its eighth spring Arctic campaign. This mission has gathered large volumes of data on changes in the elevation of the ice sheet and its internal structure. It’s readings of the thickness of sea ice and its snow cover have helped scientists improve forecasts for the summer melt season and have enhanced the understanding of variations in ice thickness distribution from year to year.

GPM (Global Precipitation Measurement)

GPM is an international satellite mission to provide next-generation observations of rain and snow worldwide every three hours. We launched this mission with the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) in 2014. GPM contributes to advancing our understanding of Earth’s water and energy cycles, improves forecasting of extreme events and extends current capabilities of using satellite precipitation information to directly benefit society.

Find information about all of our Earth-studying missions HERE. 

Celebrate Earth Day with Us!

Want to participate in Earth Day with us? Share on social media what you’re doing to celebrate and improve our home planet. We’ll be sharing aspects of a “day in the life” of our Earth science research. Use the tag #24Seven to join the conversation. Details: http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-earth-day-24seven-social-media-event

use tools

Can be taught to speak (like parrots)

Have huge brains for birds

like seriously their brain-to-body size ratio is equal to that of a chimpanzee

They vocalize anger, sadness, or happiness in response to things

they are scary smart at solving puzzles

some crows stay with their mates until one of them dies

they can remember faces

SIDENOTE HERE BECAUSE HOLY SHIT.  They did an experiment where these guys wore masks and some of them fucked with crows.  Pretty soon the crows recognized the masks = douchebag.  But the nice guys with masks they left alone.  THEN, OH WE’RE NOT DONE, NO SIR crows that WEREN’T EVEN IN THE EXPERIMENT AND NEVER SAW THE MASK BEFORE knew about mask-dudes and attacked them on sight.  THEY PASSED ON THE FUCKING INFORMATION TO THEIR CROW BUDDIES.

They remember places where crows were killed by farmers and change their migration patterns.

Every day, I would watch Buck from my window until one day I opened it and started talking to him. He was small and gangly and he couldn’t caw right. His feathers were all over the place and I felt a kinship. So I made a deal with him. I told him that if he could do it, if he could fly, then I could find the strength to get up. Well… near the end of the season, after talking with him every day, I finally saw him get out of the nest. He went to the edge of his branch, braced himself, and jumped… and just before he hit the ground, he soared back up into the sky. I cheered harder than I ever had before.

That winter, Buck left the area. I was crestfallen. I felt like I’d lost a friend. But I was so damn proud of him. 

Cut to the next spring? I’m walking up the driveway one day when suddenly I hear a sound… a broken caw. I look up, and Buck is sitting in a tree above my head. He stared at me and puffed his feathers, then hopped down in front of me and cawed again. I was so damn thrilled, and I told him how proud I was of him. He ruffled his feathers and then soared off into his old tree. 

That summer? I heard two broken caws. One from Buck… and one from his chick.

These chilean builders paralyzed the work because a  female hummingbird decided to nest on this beam.

Do not touch the birdie

I sure can! Australia’s critters are wonderful and wild and there’s so many truly amazing little guys! Three of the four orders of reptile live in Australia (the tuataras, of course, being absent), so here’s two Cool Pals from each order. 

We hear a lot about Australia’s lizzers and sneks, but we don’t hear as much about their turtles, which is a shame because look at this face.

This is the eastern (or common) side-necked turtle (Chelodina longicollis) and it, uh, it has a really long neck. Hence the name.

These turtles are wonderful creatures. If they get annoyed, they can spray a powerful musk over a meter or so. They also can hybridize quite easily; there’s a natural hybrid zone where its range overlaps with Chelodina canni, Cann’s side-necked turtle. This occurs around the Styx River drainage- which… Oz. Ozzie baby. A lot of people outside of your sphere of influence think that you’re some kind of hell between all the dangerous critters and the heat. Naming a river Styx? Not helping your image. 

Another cool Australian testudine is the Fly River Turtle, or pig-nosed turtle (Carettochelys insculpta). Looking at this critter, the name should be obvious.

This species is the only living member of its genus and aside from its porky schnoz, this friend has a lot going on. For starters, it really looks like a sea turtle. Look at those flippers! They do haul out sometimes, so they’re not completely aquatic. They also have a leathery cover over their carapace, much like a sea turtle. They can be kept in captivity, but the adults are extremely territorial and will brawl. Constantly. Even during mating season. Potentially during mating. 

Moving along to Crocodilia, we see that there’s actually multiple crocodile species kicking it down under! One of them is much larger and more notorious than the other. However, the freshwater crocodile, the smaller of the two, does have some notoriety of its own. Its scientific name is Crocodylus johnsoni, but it’s named after a fella by the name of Robert Arthur Johnstone. That’s J-o-h-n-s-t-o-n-e. When the guy who described it, Gerard Krefft, was filling out the paperwork, he forgot how to spell the guy’s name and so this critter is officially johnsoni. Johnstoni, the spelling it was supposed to have, is widely accepted as a synonym, though. 

This is a very streamlined crocodile, with a graceful, elegant snout. Though not as slim as the Indian gharial, it’s much narrower than the saltwater version. This species has no real predators, but it is regularly brought low by a rather insidious little creature- the cane toad. 

The saltwater crocodile, has no such problems. While the squat little invader is toxic to the freshwater crocs, the salties can eat them like potato chips. In fact… there’s not much these crocodiles can’t eat. Crocodylus porosus is the largest reptile on the planet; while some snakes can get longer, nothing gets heavier. These guys can eat sharks.

And yet, like most crocodilians, they’re wonderful parents. Gentle with their babies, mama saltwater crocodiles carry them around in their mouths and on their backs until they’re too big.

I could rattle on about size records, but I think the best way to express the size of these beautiful, primeval creatures is just to show you a comparison of one with some humans. 

They’re longer head-to-tail than giraffes are tall; truly a relic from a distant past.

And now we get to Squamata, and boy was it hard to pick just a couple. I love every Australian lizard and snake so much, so I’m going to feature a couple that I’ve never really talked about. First up is Moloch horridus, aka the thorny devil. This lizard is absolutely amazing. It’s beautifully adapted for its harsh environment; the ridged scales mean that it can drink from any part of its body, as capillary action brings water to its mouth. 

It does not drink through its foot, but rather the water is drawn to the mouth over the skin. Pretty special! They have a “false head” on the back of their neck to deter predators and they’re really quite shy and unaggressive; when in danger, they tuck their heads under and hope you bite the false head, which isn’t a head at all. And yet these gentle creatures got the specific name of “horrible” and the generic name of “Moloch,” who at the time was popularly depicted as a prince of Hell. It can fire up and down to better camouflage itself (or so the theory goes) and it mostly eats ants. Pretty tame for a horrible demon prince, no?

And then finally, it wouldn’t be right to talk about Australian animals without talking about Joanna and Frank. You know. These two.

Frank, the excitable Chlamydosaurus kingii, is a frilled lizard. In reality, frilled lizards don’t really do the “walking around on two legs” thing- they’re not basilisks. They’re primarily arboreal (so his climbing abilities are no joke), and their favorite food is termites. While they will eat other stuff, they can often be seen hanging out around termite mounds, waiting for them to emerge. Here’s one hanging out on a termite mound, hoping we can’t see him.

So we know what Frank is, but what is Joanna? It’s obvious she’s some kind of goanna, but that actually refers to one of several species. The internet says she’s a Spencer’s goanna (Varanus spenceri), but I don’t really think that’s the best match. Simplified color patterns aside, the Spencer’s goanna has something extremely distinctive that makes it an unlikely candidate for Joanna’s identity.

Its tongue is extremely blue. An argument for Joanna’s identity as a Spencer’s goanna could be made from its sort of pot-bellied form; Joanna’s built like a jelly bean around the middle and haunches- however, she’s also a little big to be a Spencer’s goanna. They only hit about four feet, and when compared to say, the height of the average door…

Four feet seems like a really small estimate. Based on size alone, I would suggest she’s actually a highly stylized perentie (Varanus giganteus) or a lace monitor (Varanus varius). Her overall build is very lithe, suggesting that she’s not a crocodile monitor or something like that, and her relative comfort on two legs as well as four is shared with real perenties, who not only tripod but will often run on two legs. They will also eat anything, including eggs (but then again, so will all monitors).

Adult perenties do have that nice long snakey neck…

But lace monitors have that middle bulk Joanna has.

Another factor we can put to the highly scientific* test is measuring how unbelievably smug these different monitors are.

Joanna, for comparison:

Spencer’s goanna:

N-no, I said smug.

Are you even trying?

Oh for pete’s sake, this animal doesn’t know the difference between smug and doe-eyed adorable. This isn’t the face of an antagonist!

Perentie:

Ok yeah that’s a smug animal.

Lace monitor:

…oh my. Look at that smug- and, interestingly enough, look at how the eye ridges are prominent and rise above the skull, unlike the perentie and the Spencer’s goanna… and a lot like Joanna’s. While the perentie’s size is a bit more appropriate, I’m willing to say that maybe the lace monitor is our best bet for positively identifying this fictional, highly stylized conglomeration of monitor, snake, dog, and diva traits.

So there we go, a nice little ride through some facts, some fiction, and some wild speculation! Tune in next time when I pour through more children’s cartoons trying to put a species to Franklin the Turtle and Mr. Dupette from Rocko’s Modern Life!

*not scientific at all, all of this is conjecture based on different lizard shapes