But there's still no sign of Bigfoot.

Much like a storyline out of a Disney movie, scientists have successfully separated a little electron from its parent atom and filmed it. Granted, the footage is no Finding Nemo, but the film is the first of its kind and will be featured later on in the blog entry. (I know the suspense must be killing you.)

For those of you who don't remember anything from chemistry class, these are electrons:



Hopefully the image rings a bell, even though electrons don't really rotate in such clear-cut shells. Turns out that electrons travel in clouds, but you are not going to hear about it from me. Anyway, electrons are subatomic particles that essentially grab onto and jump off of other atoms in order to form compounds.

As mentioned in Live Science, the film depicts an electron "rid[ing] on a light wave after just having been pulled away from an atom." I'll let you interpret that for yourselves:



To me, the footage looks like something I'd see on screen at a rave* — but maybe it's just the music. It really just looks like a thumbprint wiggling around the center of the frame, but I'm sure it means the world to some scientists.


*And they do still exist.

Modern Physics: Destroying our dreams since 1543

Popular Science broke some horrible news earlier this year: Superheroes can never be real, because the laws of physics say so. I know this may come as a surprise, but it turns out that people cannot fly, control the weather or turn into a big, green stomping machine.

Sarcasm aside, it's pretty interesting to see what's preventing the human body from wearing brightly colored spandex in public accomplishing tasks that were once depicted in comic books.

Take our friend Superman, for instance.



Apparently he shouldn't be able to fly, as pointed out by Sir Isaac Newton, a physicist who died before Superman was even "born" into DC Comics. According to PS, Superman can only fly if he can "emit high-velocity streams of air through the pores of his skin," or do something equally as impossible.

The article also explains why seven other heroes cannot possibly exist in the real world, even though radiation and mutations are very, very real.

So before you throw out your Batman action figures and X-Men nightlight,* keep in mind that most of today's technology was deemed impossible sometime in the not-too-distant past. I'm not saying that I expect someone to go out and become Spiderman, but maybe someone will prove Newton — who didn't have indoor plumbing or air conditioning — wrong.

And really, how much fun could you possibly have with an Einstein action figure?




*And replace them with grown-up stuff like calculus and a mortgage.

Once in a red moon

Wednesday night is going to get a bit darker than usual. On Feb. 20, there is going to be a total lunar eclipse in North America, according to NASA.

During a lunar eclipse, the moon turns red because that's the color of Earth's shadow. I like to pretend that the moon is angry about that flag we stabbed into it in 1969, but to each their own. There may also be a flash of turquoise at the beginning and end of the event, according to NASA. This happens when the light from the sun shines through Earth's ozone layer, which happens to absorb red light.



Here in Florida, the eclipse starts just before 9 p.m. and lasts until shortly after midnight. I wouldn't advise anyone to sit outside and watch the entire thing, since it's about as exciting as watching golf on ESPN.* I know it may seem like a good idea at the time, but the novelty wears off after the first hour or so. I'm probably just going to look at it sporadically — especially when the moon is at its reddest** — so that I can get the full effect without endlessly staring at the sky.

If you forget or just don't plan on going outside, Space.com has some neat photos of previous eclipses. Still, there's nothing like going out and seeing it for yourself, especially since the next one isn't until December 2010.


*Really, who watches that garbage?
**Specifically on commercial breaks during Project Runway.

I can't believe my eyes

Since the ongoing writers strike has halted new episodes of “Bionic Woman,” I know you’re all desperately seeking your fix of bionics. Luckily for us,* scientists at the University of Washington are developing the “bionic” contact lens, which could potentially show images (such as maps) to the wearer, according to National Geographic.

Essentially, the scientists created circuitry that is thinner than a human hair. These “nano-sized” pieces were placed in a liquid and poured over a special lens. The lens has differently shaped “pits,” and each pit corresponds to a certain piece of circuitry. The picture can explain it better than I can:



The first thing that stuck out to me about the photo was not the lens, but rather the strangeness of that eye. You see, I didn’t read the photo caption right away, so it took me longer than necessary to figure out the eye belongs to a rabbit.** And yes, I managed to overlook the abundance of fur also pictured in the photograph.

The biggest problem so far is that the contact may not work, as it appears that not one of the researchers put the contact in his or her own eye. So far, the only conclusion reached is that the rabbits “showed no signs of adverse effects” while wearing the lenses — whatever that means. In order to be useful to the human eye, the image would have to project itself in front of the wearer, as anyone with contacts can tell you that you can’t focus on something that is actually stuck to the lens.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the contact has reached that level of technology yet, although it may happen before the writers strike ends.***


*Who am I kidding: I didn’t watch it either.
**In my defense, the rabbit was identified in the last line of the caption.
***Really, how long is this going to last?