When Google debuted its Gmail e-mail service in 2004, the Internet community thought it was a joke. Not just because the service debuted on April Fool’s Day, but because Google promised storage space of 1 gigabyte – for starters. Its competitors, like Hotmail, offered 2 megabytes of storage, with paying customers eligible for an additional 2 megabytes. However, as Google enjoys its online dominance by upping the offering to 15 gigabytes across three of its key services, perhaps the Menlo Park-based company is the one having the last laugh.   Trimming the fat Amid all the hoopla over more…

Some would call it a slow news day. We call it an epic day for space, for Canada, and for science. Canadian Space Agency’s Chris Hadfield has made a name for himself as being a combination of Bill Nye the Science Guy and Buck Rogers with his series of videos demonstrating things that so few people will ever be able to experience themselves. Living on the International Space Station can be lonely, but for Commander Hadfield, it’s just a way to make his dreams come true in spectacular fashion. In his most recent video, he’s demonstrates something so mundane on earth but so spectacular in space that it might…

They can survive temperatures near absolute zero or as high as 300 degrees. The crushing pressure at the bottom of the ocean doesn’t faze them, nor does the vacuum of space. Radiation 1000x the level strong enough to kill an elephant doesn’t slow the tardigrade down. They are so durable that scientists are either not able to make conclusions about them or they’re coming up with the wrong ideas. The tardigrade, known also as a water bear (because they look and move like an 8-legged bear) or a moss piglet (because they love moss and look sort of like piglets), is a polyextremophile. Its ability to survive…

The childhood bed has been the place where many dreams of traveling through space have manifested. Since before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, children have wondered what it would be like to blast off beyond the clouds to play in the stars, laying awake at night picturing themselves in a space suit with nothing but the stars in their background. There have been many attempts to integrate space into bedding, but none have been more realistic or accurate as the ones produced by Snurk. They Dutch company used the specs from the European Space Agency to make a duvet and pillow cover that will have any…

The term “solar sailing” was first coined by Arthur C. Clarke in the 1964 book “Sunjammer” but the roots of the concept can be traced back centuries. “Let us create vessels and sails adjusted to the heavenly ether, and there will be plenty of people unafraid of the empty wastes.” ~ Johannes Kepler, 17th century astronomer It’s the type of vision that spawns realities unimaginable to most, but it’s a vision that has come true in recent years and that will receive its biggest test as early as 2014, according to NASA. The sail utilizes the “currents” of the Sun’s energy to propel it through space much the…

“Mixed Nuts in Space.” No, it’s not a sci-fi comedy starring Simon Pegg or a strange space porno. It could possibly be a portion of a horror flick based upon the creepy movements of the nuts in a can suspended in zero gravity. As you’ll see, they seem… alive. Nuts will never be the same again.  …

Things that we take for granted can be challenging in zero gravity. Take cutting your finger nails, for instance. It’s something that few people think about as a challenge. In space, they can be floating projectiles that end up in astronauts’ eyes, inhaled, or otherwise embedded where they do not belong. The answer – suction. If you can stand watching someone else trim their nails, here’s a video from the quirky Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield as he demonstrates the complications of this mundane task in space. …

When you’re talking about why the world didn’t end yesterday, the normal way to do so is to make sure that “yesterday” actually already happened. NASA sets aside conventional thought with their latest video that tells why the world didn’t end yesterday. It’s available on YouTube now, but don’t watch it until December 22nd or it won’t really make any sense. There’s another, more sinister theory. By declaring so boldly that the world isn’t going to end yesterday, are they simply trying to confuse us into believing that when yesterday actually comes, that tomorrow is really right around the corner?…

There are certain scientific discoveries that help. Others simply intrigue. Every now and then something comes up that makes you wonder why we never knew it before. Such is the case with the recent discovery of a possible “rogue planet” a mere 100 light years away. A rogue planet is one that has no star. It’s orbit or trajectory are determined by other galactic forces as compared to the known planets in our solar system as well as other space objects that are primarily influenced by a single star. What makes this so strange as well as concerning is the thought, as pointed out in the video below, that there…

There is a lot more physics involved with yo-yos than most people know. Take one into space and operate it with the skill and precision of NASA astronaut Don Pettit and you get 6 epic minutes space chat, yo-yo tutorials, and advice on picking up girls with yo-yo tricks. …