Help for your weekend…

Happy Friday!

Sorry I have not been posting. Things have been crazy busy and I’m taking a little blogger’s vaca. Don’t you worry your pretty little face, I’ll be posting again soon.

In the absence of my posts, I recommend you get a hobby (real housewives of NYC reference). Better yet, go out this weekend and find a nice, upstanding boy or girl (or in-between – I don’t judge. You do you) and have a wholesome weekend with them. Here are some pickup lines you can use:


Can I be your enzyme, because my active site is dying for a chemical reaction

If I were an enzyme, I’d be DNA helicase so I could unzip your genes

You’re so hot, you denature my proteins

Hey hottie! Will a little more alcohol help catalyze this reaction?

I want to work on your leucine zipper with my zinc fingers

If you were oxygen, I would totes be an alkali metal so I could get in you and explode!

Are you an alpha-carbon, because you look susceptible to backside attack

How would you like my endoplasmic reticulum: smooth or rough?

You remind me of telophase – I just can’t stop looking at your cleavage

I’d go down on your concentration gradient



Yup, its confirmed. I’m a nerd.

Have a great weekend, everyone! xoxo

Raindrops keep fallin’ on my head…

If you haven’t seen the new show on the Discovery channel (narrated by Oprah), “Life”, you need to fix that ASAP. It’s produced by the same people that made “Planet Earth”. The last episode I saw was on amphibians and reptiles, where I discovered a tiny lizard I now love.

The Brazilian pygmy gecko (Coleodactylus amazonicus) is one of the smallest lizards on earth, at only about half an inch long. Evolution probably made these geckos small to protect them from predators and competition, but in doing so it opened them up to a whole new dilemma of survival: drowning.

The pygmy gecko can be found in the tropical rainforests of South America – not exactly the driest places in the world. One minute the gecko could be sitting on a leaf, just enjoying the warmth of the sun and, without warning, a raindrop can slam into that leaf and send the gecko plummeting towards the ground. Before the gecko even knows what happened, it finds itself in the middle of a puddle trying to stay above water. Let’s not forget that when you are 2 cm long, a puddle seems like one of the Great Lakes.

Many geckos must have drowned before evolution stepped in and solved this survival problem with a simple solution: waterproof skin. This gecko can float.

The skin of a pygmy gecko is highly hydrophobic (the scientific word for waterproof). This skin paired with the gecko’s tiny size and weight allows it to float on top of water. They are even able to walk on water. They are much faster on land, so jumping into a puddle is not the ideal way to escape a predator, but hey, at least they won’t drown.

Happy Easter!

It’s impossible to think about Easter without thinking about Peeps. These chewy chicks and bunnies are some of the most iconic Easter figures. For the past decade, Peeps have been the number one (non-chocolate) Easter candy. I don’t like them, but I guess a lot of people do. They come in 6 colors (yellow, pink, lavender, blue, orange and green) and in 2008 yellow tulip Peeps joined the shelves next to their bunny and chick cousins (the first time a new design has been released since 1950).

There is something about these artificial masterpieces that has captivated the imaginations of scientists. It has been found that Peeps are a seasonal organism. They are hyper-sensitive to both hot and cold temperature extremes. Despite their sensitivity to temperature, they are highly adapted and will not dissolve or degrade when submerged (actually, they float) in water, acetone, sulfuric acid (strong acid) or sodium hydroxide (strong base). A Peep did, however, dissolve in phenol after sitting for almost an hour. No matter the substance or how long the exposure, scientists have yet to be able to dissolve the eyes of a Peep.

Check out this website to see images of the Peeps while they were being tested, as well as images of a surgery separating quadruplet Peep siblings that were attached at birth!

Like several other organisms in the wild, Peeps have evolved and acquired a defense mechanism to protect from being preyed upon by predators. Similar to a pufferfish, when a Peep is exposed to a high stress environment, it will grow in size. Appearing larger and more impressive can help ward off predators. And what is more stressful than a microwave? When you put a Peep in the microwave it will blow up in size and the mechanism for this exaggeration of physical proportion in response to stressful stimuli is well understood.

Well like all other living organisms, Peeps are comprised mostly of water. A microwave sends out its electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength (approximately 10^-6 meters) that is perfectly absorbed by water molecules. As the water absorbs the radiation it gains energy. More energy makes the molecules start to bounce around and heat up. In addition to water, Peeps contain high levels of marshmallow, which in turn contains lots and lots of air bubbles. As the water heats, the air will also start to heat up and heating air expands. The air will expand and before you know it, you have a giant peep in your microwave.

It’s a great defense mechanism that totes works – most people don’t eat the giant Peep.

Happy Easter, everyone!

And it didn’t end the world by making a giant black hole!

In the 1970s, three physicists, Peter Higgs, Robert Brout and François Englert, sat down and tried to figure out how the universe began. It had just been discovered that magnetism, electricity, light and some radioactivity were all different expressions of the same force know as the electroweak force, but in order for this theory to work, the particles carrying the force must have no mass (they know this because they did fancy-pants math). Particle physics proves that these particles do have mass, so Brout, Higgs and Englert came up with the idea that maybe all particles had no mass right after the Big Bang. As the universe cooled, an invisible force (Higgs field) formed with these non-mass particles (Higgs boson). Any particle that came in contact with these forces gained a mass. The longer they interacted, the more massive they got. If they never interacted, they never got a mass. In theory this works great, but scientists have still never seen the Higgs boson (aka: the God Particle) – well, not yet…

I don’t know about you, but that hurts my head when I try to understand it. I’ll throw it out there again, I am not a physicist. That means I am really not a particle physicist. But in the wake of the huge news yesterday (and a request from a friend), I want to talk about the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s (CERN) Large Hadron Collider.


The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a $10 billion piece of equipment that is 17 miles around (spanning the border of France and Switzerland), roughly 300 feet underground and operating at -271.3°C (that is just a little bit above absolute zero – the temperature at which molecular movement is theorized to stop). This machine is the product of thousands of scientists, all hoping it will uncover the answers to some of physics craziest questions: what is the “God Particle”, why is there no more anti-matter, what is dark matter, are there other dimensions in the universe, and how did the Big Bang work?

This is all highly theoretical science and it is very easy to get lost in the jargon and complex physics. I want to just give you a basic idea of what is actually going on.

The LHC is a giant ring comprised of two tubes. Each tube contains a single beam of particles traveling (each tube in an opposite direction) nearly at the speed of light (0.999999991 times the speed of light) in a freezing cold, ultrahigh vacuum. The particles (Hadrons) used are protons and iron ions (charged iron) because of their size, charge and ability to prevent decay and loss of energy as they travel. The beams are guided along the track by powerful magnets: 1232 dipole magnets (15 meters long) bend the beams and 392 quadrupole magnets (5–7 meters long) to focus the beams. Each magnet is super cooled with liquid nitrogen and liquid helium.

The two tubes intersect at 4 places along the track, allowing for collisions. The energy released from a head on collision between two beams is equal to the sum of both beams. Basically, when these two beams smash into one another at such high speeds, they release so much energy that temperatures can reach more than 100,000 times hotter than the sun!

There are 6 experiments (6 socialized machines) constantly recording data from each collision. These are intense machines. Some are over 7 stories tall and can still record time to the billionth of a second and distance to the millionths of a meter. With over 600 million proton collisions a second, about 15 petabytes (15 million gigabytes) of data gets generated a day! Obviously they have some impressive computer systems to back all of this equipment up with.

Yesterday the science world was amazed when, for the first time, beams of protons were hurled around the LHC, smashed into one another and released an energy of 3.5 trillion electron volts (7 times higher than ever created before)! Trust me, that’s AMAZING!

All that sounds great and is super exciting, but what does this mean for the everyday person? Nothing really. But this is still some awesome stuff to learn!

As much science as I could deal with today

I mean, the song is called "Biology"...

Just a rainy friday...

Happy Friday, everyone! I don’t know about you, but this has been a loooong week for me. I am so ready for the weekend. Since I am a little blah today (boo to the rain) I figured why not try something new again. Anyone that knows me knows that I adore art and art history. Here are some famous paintings that highlight science…



The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) was a Dutch painter and one of the most famous artists of all time. In this painting, Rembrandt shows off his impeccable realism and untouchable skill in oils. Dr. Tulp (in the hat) is explaining the anatomy of the arm to other doctors (all of which are real doctors that paid to be included in the painting). This painting is a recreation of a real autopsy performed on Aris Kindt, who was hanged for robbery in 1632. The muscles and tendons show in this picture are perfectly anatomically correct. It is still unknown how Rembrandt gained his anatomical knowledge.



The Astronomer, Johannes Vermeer
Vermeer (1632-1675) was another master of Dutch painting. In this work he shows an astronomer looking over the globe, maps and, obviously, the bible. It is believed that the man in the painting is Anton von Leeuwenhook – the Father of Microbiology. Leeuwenhook made vast improvements on the microscope and was the first to describe single celled organisms.



An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, Joseph Derby


A Philosopher giving a Lecture on the Orrery in which a lamp is put in place of the Sun, Joseph Derby
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-1797) has become one of the most famous British painters and is accredited with being the first artist to capture “the spirit of the Industrial Revolution”. His paintings captivate and pull the viewer into the drama. He was known to push away from the artist norms and standards of the time and these two paintings show this – there are no mythical or historical figures here. Notice his use of candle light to illuminate his subjects.


The Gross Clinic, Thomas Eakins
Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) was an American artist who studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts as well as the Jefferson Medical College. He studied human anatomy and had a passion for scientific realism.

Sucks to be Pluto

The moment I finished the space odyssey, I began getting grief about not including Pluto. Sorry friends, but Pluto is not a planet. Sure it used to be, but it was downgraded. Like most other scientists I have to agree that it doesn’t deserve to be in the same class as bodies like Jupiter and Saturn.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is who started the drama around Pluto. They are the big shot organization that controls how we think about space. They are also the ones with the authority to name heavenly objects.

The drama started in January 2005 when Eris (official name: Eris 136199) was discovered. Eris was found orbiting out past Pluto in the Kuiper Belt. It was determined to be 27% more massive than Pluto. NASA started calling Eris the tenth planet and got excited about the high probability of finding more planets, but the IAU had something to say about that.

In August 2006, the IAU held a meeting in Prague and passed Resolution 5A. This resolution established guidelines to determine if something is a planet or a dwarf planet.

To be a planet, an object must:
1. Orbit the sun
2. Be large enough to produce enough gravity to make itself (mostly) round
3. Clear the neighborhood around its orbit

To be a dwarf planet, an object must:
1. Orbit the sun
2. Be large enough to produce enough gravity to make itself (mostly) round
3. Not have cleared the neighborhood of its orbit
4. Not be a satellite (moon)

All other objects (i.e. comets, asteroids, etc) are classified collectively as “Small Solar System Bodies”.

Pluto is tiny (only about 70% the size of our moon), but it is able to meet requirements one and two of being a planet. The problem lies in requirement three. Pluto orbits in the Kuiper Belt (basically the same thing as the asteroid belt, just a little larger. It starts right outside the orbit of Neptune). A true planet would have cleared the belt out of its orbit, but Pluto did not.

Picture from http://www.mathiaspedersen.com/

Just like that, Pluto got its planet card revoked. Our solar system only contains 8 planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune). In Resolution 6A, Pluto was officially named a dwarf planet as well as the prototype for a new variety of trans-Neptunian objects, which (according to Resolution 6B) will be called “Plutonian Objects”.

Now Pluto gets to hang out with the other dwarfs, like Ceres and Eris.

Whatever, I would rather hang out with them anyway!

On Wednesdays we wear pink!

I’m on a little Mean Girls kick today. I woke up thinking about the movie for some reason (don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining) and have now decided, in honor of the rules of the cafeteria, to post about wearing pink on Wednesdays. Bring on the flamingos…

There are 6 flamingo species (4 species found in the US), all in the genus Phoenicopterus. These pretty birds are socialites and live in large colonies. They can be found at the top of the Andes Mountains, all the way down to the tidal flats of the Caribbean.

One of the most distinctive features of a flamingo is its color. Flamingos are born white, but turn various shades of pink (anywhere from a light/pastel pink to deep crimson and vermilion).

[Reader: scratches head and thinks, “Robert, but why are flamingos pink?”]

Well let me tell you!

Flamingos are filter feeders. They will wade out into the water and lower and tilt their heads, allowing their bill to be upside-down under water. After stomping their feet a few times to stir up the mud, the flamingo will swish its head side to side to get the murky water moving through its bill. A pointy tongue acts like a piston to help circulate the water within the bill. Small hair-like structures called lamellae line the bill and filter out food from the water. Flamingos like to eat things like brine shrimp, algae, plankton, insect larvae, etc (small stuff). Anything too big or too small or that doesn’t seem appetizing is filtered through the lamellae and then pushed out of the bill.

Eating a lot of algae and plankton means that flamingos are taking in a lot of carotenoid proteins, mainly beta-carotene (the protein also found in carrots) and alpha-carotene. Once ingested, these chemicals are broken down in the liver. The byproduct, in flamingos, is a pink chemical that can be dissolved in fats and deposited in growing feathers. The amount and types of algae eaten are what affect how light or intense the color is. That’s why flamingos found in different locations vary in color.

This is similar to the reason people can start to turn orange if they eat enough carrots.

No matter where the flamingo lives, it wants to be the brightest one in its colony. A good, solid, intense color means that flamingo is well fed and happy – the perfect mate and parent.

A Little Hump Day Treat

I’m putting up another post in a few, but I wanted to share this website…

Just in case you ever wanted to know how much you would weigh on other planets

I’m Blue, Oh Ohh, Oh Ohh…

Who doesn’t love learning about a fun genetic disease? And what is more fun than a disease that can turn you blue?!

Hemoglobin is a protein found inside your red blood cells that allows your cells to bind and carry oxygen. Kind of a super important protein. In mammals, 97% of a red blood cell is hemoglobin. A hemoglobin molecule is made up for 8 subunits: 4 protein subunits and 4 iron containing subunits (hemes). The heme groups are what bind, carry and release oxygen molecules. Of the 4 protein subunits, there are 2 types: alpha-globin and beta-globin. A gene called “hemoglobin, beta” (HBB) is what tells the body how to make the beta-globin subunit.

Methemoglobinemia (beta-globin type) is a rare genetic disorder of the blood. Individuals with methemoglobinemia have a few mutations in certain parts of the HBB gene. These mutations cause the body to produce an atypical version of the beta-globin subunit. When this odd version joins the other subunits to form a hemoglobin molecule, it doesn’t join together properly and ends up forming a slightly different protein, hemoglobin-M.

Hemoglobin-M does not interact with the heme groups properly and ends up inhibiting their ability to bind oxygen as well as normal. Poor binding means less oxygen being delivered throughout the body.

We all know that oxygenated blood is red (visualize your arteries, blood dripping from a cut, etc.) and deoxygenated blood is bluish in color (think of your veins). Less oxygen in the bloodstream will make the blood blue as it moves through the body, causing the skin and other membranes of a person with methemoglobinemia to look blue.

A person inherits methemoglobinemia from their parents. It is an autosomal dominant trait. Autosomal means it is not sex-linked (not on an X or Y chromosome); the mutation can come from the mom or dad and will affect both sons and daughters. Dominant means that it only takes one copy of the mutated gene to have the condition. If both parents are blue, there is a very slim chance any children will be normal colored (the best being a ¼ chance if the parents are both heterozygous carriers).

There is not really a treatment to fix this condition, but as long as the person doesn’t mind being blue they will be fine. Most people with methemoglobinemia live very normal lives. The most famous case of methemoglobinemia was the Blue Fugates of Kentucky. After emigrating from France in 1820, Martin Fugate married Elizabeth Smith of Kentucky. They had 7 children and 4 of them popped out blue. Being in the backwoods of Kentucky, the kids obviously married other locals and eventually started inbreeding. The whole area started turning blue. Three blue Fugates were still alive in the 1980s.

Ancestors, Hear my plea, Help me not to make a fool of me…

The other day, while having a sushi date with one of my favorite followers (and favorite people in general), I realized how surprised I am that I’ve become a fan of wasabi. I told you last week how I despise spicy foods, but for some reason I love a little wasabi mixed with soy sauce on a yellowtail roll. In honor of my new found love, here is a post dedicated to wasabi.

Wasabi (Wasabia japonica) is a plant that is closely related to mustard and horseradish. Native to areas along the cold fresh water streams of Japan, the wasabi plant is a very finiky grower. Under even the most ideal conditions, farmers have a tough time getting large yields. Being native to Japan means it obviously grows best there, but high demand has brought wasabi farms to the US. In the US there are very few places that have the proper climate and landscape to support growing wasabi. Most North American production occurs in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

That dollop of wasabi you smear on your sushi is actually the wasabi root after it has been ground down to a paste. Well, that’s what you would be eating if you were eating real wasabi. With demand for wasabi so high and crop production so low, wasabi is expensive! Most restaurants (even really bougie ones) only offer real wasabi to people upon request. What you get on the corner of your plate is a mixture of horseradish, mustard and food coloring.

But now down to the part of wasabi I think is the most interesting - it’s really good for you!

Wasabi contains chemicals known as isothiocynates that are known to help fight cancers, especially breast and prostate cancer. Wasabi also has natural antibacterial properties. A bunch of studies have been conducted and report that several varieties of bacteria known to cause food poisoning cannot survive in the presence of wasabi. Companies are now even throwing around the idea of using wasabi extracts in antibacterial products like soap. I obviously totes support!

And when you think about it, it’s really not a bad idea to throw some antibacterial wasabi on raw fish you’re eating for dinner.

Name That Embryo!

It’s Friday and it’s SO beautiful outside that I am having a hard time focusing. That means today is the perfect time to try something a little different…

Embryogenesis is the process of embryo formation that starts with the fertilization of an egg with a sperm. I have mentioned before that the process from fertilized egg (zygote) to baby organism is extremely complex. I will get more into that another time (when I can focus and not think about happy hour).

Just know that all animals start as a single cell and go through this process. Since everyone starts as only one cell, it is crazy when you start looking at early stage embryos. No matter how different the final animal is going to look, they all start out looking very similar.

So here is a fun little game for a Friday afternoon! Try to see if you can figure out what animal each embryo is going to develop into. The answers are in the comment section.

Quick Note: For some reason I am having a hard time numbering these images. Don’t be stupid and just assume the top image is #1, the picture under that is #2… you get it. And to help you, I put a hint at the bottom. Try doing it without the hint first (it makes it more amusing).









Yeah, told you it’s not easy to tell organisms apart at this stage in life. It may help (probably not) a little knowing the organisms I am using. Above (in no particular order) there is an Elephant, Human, Cat, Dog, Lamprey, Snake, Mouse and Turtle.

Spicy just like hot sauce, Careful, you might burn it up…

I’m not a fan of spicy food. I don’t mind a jalapeno every so often on some nachos, but I am definitely not the person to ask for extra spicy salsa at Chipotle. My dearest friend, on the other hand, does not feel the same way. It’s hilarious to watch him down some extra spicy tacos and then break into a sweat. Obviously we got to thinking about why people sweat when they eat hot foods…

Perspiration (sweat) is a fluid comprised mostly of water, with a small percent (0.1-1%) of solute (things dissolved in it; i.e. chlorides, iron, sodium, potassium, zinc, etc.). This fluid is produced by specialized cells in the skin and drips out of the sweat glands of all mammals. The body uses sweat as a way to regulate temperature (thermoregulation). As sweat evaporates off of the skin, it sucks up some energy with it and has a cooling effect. When you eat spicy foods your mouth feels hot, but your body temperature is not actually increasing, so why would you sweat?

Spicy foods contain chemicals that stimulate nocciceotors (pain sensors) in your mouth. These sensors are responsible for detecting pain and sending a signal to your central nervous system (the brain) telling it to fix the situation. Capsaicin (a chemical found in chili peppers) is known to affect these receptors.

When you eat a pepper the capsaicin will dissolve in your saliva and find its way around your mouth, attacking every nocciceotor it passes. Capsaicin can actually confuse the nocciceotors in your mouth into thinking that the body is getting hot because of some intense stimulus. To prevent damage from overheating, your brain (the hypothalamus in particular) responds by turning on the sweat. Before you know it, your head is dripping wet.

Very simple and straightforward.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

An Irishman is never drunk as long as he can hold onto one blade of grass to keep from falling off the earth.
~ Irish Saying
In honor of St. Patrick and my Irish roots (that’s right, I’m really Irish), let’s talk about the most famous plant associated with this drunken holiday: the four-leaf clover.

The shamrock (specifically the White Clover, Trifolium repens) is a national symbol for Ireland. It is a small plant that is native to Europe, but can now be found across the northern hemisphere. Clover is commonly grown as a delicious option for grazing animals because of its high protein content and its ability to grow in such a wide range of conditions. If you’re into organic farming this is a great plant to grow because of its ability to fix nitrogen and naturally prevent soil leaching.

Clovers have been symbolic to the people of Ireland since the ancient Celtic tribes. The druids (Celtic priests) revered the plant because of its three leaves and their beliefs around the power of the number three. When St. Patrick came to Ireland, it is believed that he used the shamrock to explain the holy trinity. Like a shamrock, God is comprised of the holy trinity (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit); three things that come together as one and come from the same stem. Today the shamrock is seen more as a good luck symbol rather than for its religious affiliations. Three-leaf shamrocks are great and all, but the money is in the four-leaf variety.

Four-leaf clovers are associated with good luck almost globally. The Druids were the first to begin the association with luck (three is lucky so four must be luckier). They used it to help keep away evil spirits. The Christian church tied luck to the four-leaf clover by saying that Eve carried one with her as she was expelled from the Garden of Eden. Irish people have given each of the four leaves a meaning: the first leaf represents hope, the second represents faith, the third represents love and the forth represents luck.

In actuality these lucky symbols are just abnormal plants. The scientific community is still out on what exactly causes a shamrock to turn into a four-leaf clover. It could be caused from a very rare recessive genetic mutation. Being recessive means that if a four-leaf clover mates with any other clover other than another four-leaf version, its offspring will be the normal three-leaf variety. The mutation may be caused during plant formation and may even be caused by environmental factors. Several genes are responsible for leaf formation (we know this based on studies of leaf formation in similar plants) and more than one influence is likely. It may be a combination of all of these explanations. Whatever it is, it keeps these clovers at a ratio of 1 four-leaf clover for every 10,000 three-leaf clovers. Good luck finding one.

I say don’t bother and just have another beer.

Robert’s Out of This World Space Odyssey: Neptune, The Final Planet

Neptune is the 8th and outermost planet in our solar system (Pluto is no longer a planet and we will talk about that another time), orbiting 2.8 billion miles (4.5 billion kilometers) away from the sun. That makes Neptune far enough away for people on Earth not to be able to see it without a telescope. Even then it just looks like a fixed star. If you remember an older post, you will know that since Neptune is hard to see from Earth (impossible without a telescope), it is actually the first planet discovered using math. Two astronomers working in the mid-nineteenth century, John Couch Adams and Urbain Le Verrie, both realized that the orbit of Uranus was not as predicted – something with a large gravitational force must be altering it. It must be another planet. On September 23, 1846, Neptune was discovered and named after the Roman god of the sea (the international community of astronomers didn’t like naming the planet after Le Verrie).

Neptune is roughly 4 times bigger than Earth and is comprised mostly of hydrogen, helium, water and silicates (the stuff you make rocks out of). Like its sister ice giant, Uranus, Neptune has an inner rocky core (about the size of Earth), surrounded by a liquid layer that blends into layers of thick clouds. These clouds whip around the planet, sometimes at speeds greater than the winds on Jupiter. The clouds contain methane, which provides the planet’s brilliant blue color.

Being the farthest from the sun also means taking the most time to complete an orbit. One full year (a complete orbit around the sun) on Neptune takes 165 Earth years. One day on Neptune (full rotation around its axis) lasts 16 hours 7 minutes.

Neptune has 6 thin, hard to notice and non-uniform rings. It also has 13 identified moons. Triton is the largest moon and is the only major moon in the universe to orbit a planet in the opposite direction the planet rotates. It is believed that Triton started life as a comet orbiting the sun. One day it got a little too close to Neptune and before it realized what was happening; it got sucked into orbit by Neptune’s gravity and became a moon. The surface of Triton is the coldest known place in our solar system, coming in at a bone chilling -390°F (-235°C).

And that’s it. You have now learned a little something about all of the planets in our solar system. I hope you enjoyed our lovely little space odyssey!

Robert’s Out of This World Space Odyssey: Uranus, Haha, You Said Uranus

You better grab a parka and some hot chocolate, because we have arrived at the ice giants.

At a distance of 1,784,860,000 miles (2,872,460,000 kilometers) from the sun (a distance that takes light almost 3 hours to travel), Uranus is orbiting though the suburbs of our galaxy. Discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1781, Uranus is the first planet discovered since ancient times.

When you talk about the orbit of Uranus around the sun, you are starting to really talk about a distance to travel. One year on Uranus (a full orbit around the sun) takes 30,685 Earth days or a little more than 84 Earth years. Most people don’t even live that long. One day on Uranus is a little faster than an Earth day, only taking 17 hours 14 minutes. What is fun about the rotation of Uranus around its axis is that this plant basically rotates on its side. Scientists believe during formation something about the size of Earth smacked into Uranus and knocked it onto its side. Being tipped on the side means that for the majority of the Uranian year only the poles receive light and leave the rest of the planet in the dark. To make the rotation even better, like Venus, Uranus rotates retrograde (east to west) – you know, just to be different.

Uranus is a ball of gas and liquid about four times the size of Earth. Due to its distance from us, there is a lot of speculation about the composition of Uranus. It may have a solid rocky core, about the size of Earth, surrounded by a liquid sea full of dissolved ammonia. Above this sea would be layers of thick water clouds stocked full of frozen ammonia crystals. Topping the atmosphere off are blue-green clouds comprised of frozen methane crystals. Similar to the other gas giants, Uranus is probably a planet covered in high winds and violent storms.

William Shakespeare wrote in a Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Sweet Moon, I thank thee for thy sunny beams; I thank thee, Moon, for shining now so bright.” Astronomers liked that line, so they decided to name the moons of Uranus after Shakespeare’s characters. All of the moons orbit the planet in the same way it rotates (the orbits look like they go up and over then back under the planet, versus around it like our moon). Oberon and Titania are the largest moons (they are also the king and queen of the fairies). Miranda is the smallest and innermost moon and is also the most unique moon in the galaxy. It has a cavern 12 times deeper than the Grand Canyon. Uranus has 27 identified moons and more are expected to be found.


We know there should be more moons because something needs to explain the extra gravity being provided to help hold together Uranus’ rings. Yup, Uranus has rings too. An inner ring system found in 1977 and an outer ring system found in 2003. In 2007 it was observed that the outer rings are really brightly colored. See, look, 2007 – that is not long ago. There is still so much to learn about the planets!

Robert’s Out of This World Space Odyssey: Saturn, The Diva

When Galileo was just sitting on his balcony, having a lovely glass of limoncello, nibbling on a cannoli and looking into the havens through his telescope, he saw the 6th planet from the sun. This is the last planet anyone on Earth will be able to see with a naked eye. As Galileo sketched the planet, he noted two spheres on either side of the main body. He drew them on as handles attached to the planet and assumed this planet must be a triple-bodied system. Not until Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens came along in 1659 did the world realize that this planet was actually surrounded by thin rings. Now Saturn and her rings is the most recognizable planet in our solar system.

Saturn (named after the Roman god of agriculture) is the second largest planet in the Milky Way. Much like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant comprised mostly of hydrogen and helium, with a possibility it may have a solid rocky core. Saturn has earned the title of least dense planet. It is 1/10 the density of Earth and 2/3 the density of water. If you could put Saturn in a giant bucket of water, it would float.

This ball of gas can whip around the sun once every 10,759 Earth days. That means one year on Saturn is equal to 29.5 Earth years. One day on Saturn (a full rotation around its axis) takes 10 hours 39 minutes – just a little slower than Jupiter.

The weather on Saturn is also comparable to Jupiter. Saturn has layers of various gasses at different temperatures that give the presence of colorful cloud bands covering the planet. High winds keep the clouds moving.

Everyone knows Saturn because of her rings. Rather than one giant ring, Saturn has a system of rings that rotate around the equator and never touch the planet. Narrow ringlets of ice and rock particles (ranging in size from a grain of sand to the size of a house) come together to form the 7 major rings of Saturn. The particles are believed to come from asteroids, comets and pieces broken off of Saturn’s moons. The rings rotate at various speeds and can reach widths of almost 180,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) across. They may be wide, but they are not thick – they vary from 660 to 9,800 feet (200 to 3,000 meters). In some places the rings may only be as thick as a tall person. There are also several gaps in the rings, with the largest (the Cassini Divide) being 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) wide. This gap is caused by the gravitational force of one of Saturn’s moons, Mimas.

Saturn has 53 naturally orbiting moons. The moons are all uber interesting – some actually orbit right in the middle of the rings creating gaps. The largest of all the moons is Titan. Titan is the second largest moon in the galaxy (it’s bigger than mercury). It has a strong gravitational force and alters the orbit of some of Saturn’s other moons. Titan is the only moon in our solar system with an atmosphere. What makes its atmosphere even more interesting is that it is 95% nitrogen – the same as Earth’s early atmosphere. Studying Titan could teach scientists how the Earth formed billions of years ago.

Robert’s Out of This World Space Odyssey: Jupiter, The Big Boy

Bring on the gas giants! And what better one to start with than the biggest planet in our solar system, Jupiter.


Jupiter is a big boy. In fact, it is so big that it Jupiter and its moons are basically a mini solar system within our own. When I say big, I mean big (compared to the other planets). It would take over 1,000 Earths to make something the size of Jupiter. Being so big makes it easy to see from Earth with the naked eye. Jupiter will be the second brightest planet in the sky (second to Venus). Because of its size, the ancient Romans named this planet after the king of their gods, Jupiter (the Greeks called it Zeus).

There is very little (if any) solid material on Jupiter – it is a giant ball of gas and liquid. It is comprised mostly of hydrogen and helium (more similar to the sun than the Earth), but there may be a very small solid metal core. If Jupiter was 80 times larger, it actually would have become a star and not a planet. Being so large also means it is the most massive (heaviest) planet, but since this weight is primarily Hydrogen and Helium (the two lightest elements), it is not very dense.

It takes this ball of gas 4,333 Earth days (about 12 years) to orbit around the sun. Jupiter can make one full rotation on its axis in 9 hours 56 minutes. That is faster than any other planet. Spinning so fast makes the center of Jupiter bulge out such that the diameter of the planet 7% larger at the equator than at the poles.

The average temperature of Jupiter (taken at the level we would consider ground level and also where any life would be, if there is any) is 70°F (21°C) – that is room temperature on Earth. Other than pleasant temperatures, the weather forecast on Jupiter calls for clouds and wind. The clouds are made of different chemicals that provide Jupiter with its fun colors. The high clouds of frozen ammonia are white and the darker blue clouds are found below them. The Great Red Spot is this planets most distinguishable beauty mark. It is a swirling spot of gas that is big enough for three Earths to fit inside of it. It really doesn’t move much and can shift colors from opaque to deep red (the color comes from small amounts of sulfur and phosphorous mixed with the ammonia crystals).

No giant planet wants to travel alone and Jupiter is no exception. This planetary rockstar has picked up a bunch of moons – 62 to be exact. The largest four, the Galilean moons (they were discovered by Galileo) are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Jupiter is so big that it even has enough gravity to hold a comet in orbit.

A little known fact to most people is that Jupiter also has rings. That’s right, take that Saturn, you’re not the only one! Discovered in a picture taken by Voyager 1, the rings of Jupiter encircle the planet right around the equator. Jupiter has 3 faint rings that are made of tiny partials (similar to the size of particles in cigarette smoke). The main ring is around 20 miles (30 kilometers) thick and has an outer edge approximately 80,000 miles (129,000 kilometers) from the center of the planet.

Happy Pi Day!!

We need to take a quick break from the journey through space to give a giant Happy Birthday shout-out to pi!


Pi (π) is a constant used to describe the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Pi is an irrational number, meaning that its decimal goes on forever with no pattern. This fantastic number has been calculated out to over 1 trillion decimal places!



π = 3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209 7494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651 3282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102 7019385211055596446229489549303819644288109756659334461 2847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432 6648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920 9628292540917153643678925903600113305305488204665213841 4695194151160943305727036575959195309218611738193261179 3105118548074462379962749567351885752724891227938183011 9491298336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798 6094370277053921717629317675238467481846766940513200056 8127145263560827785771342757789609173637178721468440901 2249534301465495853710507922796892589235420199561121290 2196086403441815981362977477130996051870721134999999837 2978049951059731732816096318595024459455346908302642522 3082533446850352619311881710100031378387528865875332083 8142061717766914730359825349042875546873115956286388235 3787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909 2164201989380952572010654858632788659361533818279682303 0195203530185296899577362259941389124972177528347913151 5574857242454150695950829533116861727855889075098381754 6374649393192550604009277016711390098488240128583616035 6370766010471018194295559619894676783744944825537977472 6847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104 7521620569660240580381501935112533824300355876402474964 7326391419927260426992279678235478163600934172164121992 4586315030286182974555706749838505494588586926995690927 2107975093029553211653449872027559602364806654991198818 3479775356636980742654252786255181841757467289097777279 3800081647060016145249192173217214772350141441973568548 1613611573525521334757418494684385233239073941433345477 6241686251898356948556209921922218427255025425688767179 0494601653466804988627232791786085784383827967976681454 1009538837863609506800642251252051173929848960841284886 2694560424196528502221066118630674427862203919494504712 3713786960956364371917287467764657573962413890865832645 9958133904780275900994657640789512694683983525957098258 2262052248940772671947826848260147699090264013639443745 5305068203496252451749399651431429809190659250937221696 4615157098583874105978859597729754989301617539284681382 6868386894277415599185592524595395943104997252468084598 7273644695848653836736222626099124608051243884390451244 1365497627807977156914359977001296160894416948685558484 0635342207222582848864815845602850601684273945226746767 8895252138522549954666727823986456596116354886230577456 4980355936345681743241125150760694794510965960940252288 7971089314566913686722874894056010150330861792868092087 4760917824938589009714909675985261365549781893129784821 6829989487226588048575640142704775551323796414515237462 3436454285844479526586782105114135473573952311342716610 2135969536231442952484937187110145765403590279934403742 0073105785390621983874478084784896833214457138687519435 0643021845319104848100537061468067491927819119793995206 1419663428754440643745123718192179998391015919561814675 1426912397489409071864942319615679452080951465502252316 0388193014209376213785595663893778708303906979207734672 2182562599661501421503068038447734549202605414665925201 4974428507325186660021324340881907104863317346496514539 0579626856100550810665879699816357473638405257145910289 7064140110971206280439039759515677157700420337869936007 2305587631763594218731251471205329281918261861258673215 7919841484882916447060957527069572209175671167229109816 9091528017350671274858322287183520935396572512108357915 1369882091444210067510334671103141267111369908658516398 3150197016515116851714376576183515565088490998985998238 7345528331635507647918535893226185489632132933089857064 2046752590709154814165498594616371802709819943099244889 5757128289059232332609729971208443357326548938239119325 9746366730583604142813883032038249037589852437441702913 2765618093773444030707469211201913020330380197621101100 4492932151608424448596376698389522868478312355265821314 4957685726243344189303968642624341077322697802807318915 4411010446823252716201052652272111660396665573092547110 5578537634668206531098965269186205647693125705863566201 8558100729360659876486117910453348850346113657686753249... You get the point.

It's commonly shortened to 3.14, which is why Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th.

Happy Pi Day!

Robert’s Out of This World Space Odyssey: The Asteroid Belt, Where They Teach You to Hate Dinosaurs

It’s time to say goodbye to the “Earth-like” rocky planets of the inner galaxy and move on to explore the gas giants. If you really were traveling from Mars to Jupiter, you would run into another major component of our galaxy: the asteroid belt.

The asteroid belt (the main belt) is an area of the solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter that contains over 4,000 named asteroids that are just orbiting the sun (there are millions of asteroids total). The vast majority of the asteroids in our solar system can be found in the belt. That’s great and all, but if you don’t know what an asteroid is, then you probably do not care.

An asteroid is basically leftover material from the formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Sometimes referred to as minor planets, asteroids are nothing more than pieces of space rock. These rocks are leftover because when Jupiter finished forming, it had such an affect that the material between it and Mars stopped forming as well, leaving us with the asteroid belt.

Asteroids are irregularly shaped and covered in collision marks. They all orbit the sun and even rotate – although it looks more like they are just tumbling along. They vary greatly in size. Ceres is the largest and is roughly 952 kilometers (592 miles) in diameter. This monster asteroid is said to contain 1/3 of the total mass of all asteroids. Others are not even a mile in diameter. The smallest asteroid ever discovered is barely 20 feet across. Some of the larger asteroids have small moons orbiting them. Several pair off (sometimes in groups of three) and orbit each other as they orbit the sun.

Getting through the asteroid belt isn’t a big deal. It is such a large space and the asteroids are typically rather small (in comparison to other things in space). If you took every asteroid in our solar system and put them together, you wouldn’t even be able to make something the size of our moon.

The asteroids within the belt are all unique and are classified into three main categories based on their composition. S-Types (stony) are made up of iron, nickel and silicates, M-Types (metallic) are made of metallic metals (i.e. nickel and iron) and C-Types are made of silicates and clay (these are the most common).

Jupiter is a big boy and has a ginormous gravitational field. As it orbits it is able to alter the belt and send some asteroids flying out of the belt in random directions throughout the galaxy. When an asteroid is sent our direction it is referred to as a near-Earth asteroid. Scientists are always tracking these crazy rocks. A near-Earth asteroid that collided with the Earth is believed to be what killed the dinosaurs.

Robert’s Out of This World Space Odyssey: Mars, Who Earth Would Borrow a Cup of Sugar From

Wave to Earth as we pass by on our way to the next planet: Mars!

On a dark night, with a good idea where to look, you can see Mars from Earth. It will look like a bright red dot in the night sky. The ancient Romans named this planet after their god of war and destruction because of its blood red color.

Mars is Earth’s closest neighbor – only 33,900,000 miles (54,500,000 kilometers) away at its closest. Although not the smallest, Mars is no giant. It is about half the size of Earth. The planet does have a very thin atmosphere that is thick enough to have some clouds and weather patterns. The average temperature on Mars is -80°F (-60°C), but can range from -195°F (-125°C) at the poles to around 70°F (20°C) at the equator. Mars has a similar solar day to Earth that lasts 24 hours 39 minutes 35 seconds long. A year on Mars lasts 687 Earth days and is complete with seasons (thanks to a lovely tilt on the axis).

Just like all of the other rocky planets, Mars is covered with volcanoes, valleys, large continents, rocks, blah, blah, blah. Mars is famous for its color, which it gets from its dirt. The soil on Mars contains lots of iron-rich minerals which provide the lovely rust color. Unlike the other rocky planets, Mars does not have a magnetic field. So if you ever get lost there, don’t bother with a compass.

Accompanying Mars through its cosmic voyage are its two moons (satellites): Phobos and Deimos. Named after the two sons of the god Aries (the Greek version of the god Mars), these two moons are not exactly what you think of when you think of a moon. They are very small (Phobos is the largest with a diameter of 17 miles and then Deimos with a diameter of 9 miles) and irregularly shaped. In space, things become round because gravity pulls of them. These two moons are too small to have their own significant gravitational force. Although still debated, it is believed that these moons were actually asteroids that came a little too close to Mars and got stuck in orbit around the planet.

I would hope that all of you have at least heard about the missions to Mars. The world is very interested in studying our closest neighbor. Finding water on the surface of Mars was a huge deal and hints that life may be possible on this planet.

Robert’s Out of This World Space Odyssey: Venus, Earth’s Sweltering Sister

The odyssey continues with Venus! Holding the title of Earth’s twin, no other planet is more similar to Earth then Venus. Named after the Ancient Roman goddess of love and beauty (because of its beautiful and bright appearance in the night sky), Venus is similar to Earth in size, mass, magnetism and composition. It is also the closest planet to the Earth. At its closest, Venus is only 23.7 million miles (38.2 million kilometers) away from you.

Orbiting the sun in almost a perfect circle (remember that the planets orbit in an elliptical shape), a year on Venus lasts 225 Earth Days. The ancient Mayans tracked Venus’ orbit and used it to create their calendar. One day (one rotation) on Venus takes approximately 243 Earth days. Combine those two numbers with some fancy-pants physics and math and you will figure out that one lunar day (sunrise to sunset) on Venus is about 117 Earth days long. To make that long day a little more fun, Venus decided to switch it up a little and rotate on its axis retrograde (east to west). Earth rotates prograde (west to east). That means on Venus, the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. If Earth did that, I wonder if they would change TV show times and make the Eastern Standard Time an hour earlier.

Above all else, the trait Venus is most known for is how hot this sassy little siren is! Venus has a thick atmosphere (actually, the densest in the universe) mostly comprised of carbon dioxide and clouds of sulfuric acid. Doesn’t that sound lovely? Heat from the sun gets trapped inside the atmosphere causing surface temperatures on Venus to soar well above 470°C (880°F). Venus is a great place to study global warming due to green house gasses. And what better to add to temperatures hot enough to melt iron then hurricane force winds and acid rain?

Giant clouds containing sulfuric acid whirl around the outer atmosphere of Venus at 360 kilometers (224 miles) per hour. The lower the clouds, the slower the wind. One the surface, wind speeds are estimated to be gentle breezes. In addition to the clouds pouring down sulfuric acid rain, they also produce lots of lightning.

If you can get past the intense weather, the surface of Venus is mostly large, flat, smooth plains. The plains are dotted with thousands of volcanoes. There are also 6 mountain ranges on the planet and a few impact creators.


If you want to see Venus, just look into the night sky – it will be the brightest thing you see. Like Mercury, it will creep across the face of the sun (a transit) twice within roughly a century. The transits occur close together and the next one will be June 6, 2012.

Robert’s Out of This World Space Odyssey: Mercury, the Littlest Planet

Let the exploration of the Milky Way Galaxy commence! I posted about stars a few weeks ago, so now let’s talk about the planets! I heart all of the planets equally so we'll just talk about them in order, starting with Mercury...

Mercury is the small planet right next to the sun. It is the smallest planet in our solar system (about the size of Earth’s moon), but is the second (to Earth) most dense planet. Being dense basically means it is really heavy for its size (science people are cringing at this definition, but it works, so back off!). Mercury is the closest planet the sun. At its closest it is only 28,580,000 miles (46,000,000 kilometers) away from the sun’s surface. Being so close to the sun means daytime temperatures on the surface of this tiny planet reach a sweltering 430°C (800°F). Mercury does not have an atmosphere (atmospheres are like a big blanket - they can hold in warmth and keep out space trash) so a night on Mercury usually plummets to around -180°C (-290°F). Imagine dressing to go out for dinner.

Mercury is named after the Ancient Roman god, Mercury. Mercury (the god) was the FedEx god who could get places the fastest with his super-fly winged shoes. The name is fitting since the planet Mercury orbits the sun faster than any other planet. One year (a full rotation around the sun) takes Mercury 88 Earth days. A day on Mercury (one full rotation around the axis – an imaginary line running through the center of the planet) is 59 Earth days long. Since it is going around the sun so quickly, but rotating so slowly, it takes 176 Earth days to have 1 solar day (to go from sunrise to sunset). Isn’t that kind of bizarre?

Being so small and close to the sun makes seeing Mercury a little difficult. Thirteen times a century, Mercury will pass in front of the sun and people on Earth will be able to see the planet (this is called a transit). The next time we can do this is May 9, 2016.

In 1974-1975 the US space probe, Mariner 10, did flybys of Mercury and provided people on Earth with the first up close images of the planet. Basically, it looks like our moon – it’s full of craters and mountains created by comet and meteor impacts. Radar imaging done in 1991 shows that despite being so hot, the poles (which stay cold) may contain frozen water. NASA has the Messenger probe aimed at Mercury now. The probe did flyby pictures in 2008 and 2009. Messenger will settle into orbit around Mercury in 2011 and study the planet’s composition and magnetic field for a year.

Get Excited for Tomorrow!

Throwing it back to when Pluto was still a planet...

A pair of genes that fight just right, and the radio up…

"The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music." ~ Lewis Thomas


Alright friends, it’s time to get another bio basic under your belt. Let’s talk DNA. It is constantly referenced in everyday life (and in this blog) and it is important to know at least the basics (I took an entire class on DNA – the science world knows a LOT! I’m keeping it basic).

Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is the basis of life. Every living organism, from single cell bacteria to humans, has the exact same basic structure of DNA. It is a long strand (polymer) of repeating units called nucleotides. A nucleotide has a backbone made up of a phosphate group and a sugar (a 5 carbon sugar called 2-deoxyribose). Hanging off of the sugar is one of four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. These are the A, G, C, T that you remember hearing about in high school. This basic structure (a phosphate, a sugar and a base) makes up a single nucleotide. The nucleotides are then strung together to make a long chain of nucleotides by having the phosphate of one nucleotide bond with the sugar of another (creating a very strong phosphodiester bond – my favorite type of bond). To stabilize itself, DNA forms a double stranded molecule that twists around itself in a helix. The bases of each nucleotide will form hydrogen bonds with matching bases until there is a double stranded helical structure.


Dig deep and try to remember… A pairs with T and G pairs with C…

The order of these bases is what is important. There are a lot of proteins that are able to read DNA and turn the code created by the bases into proteins that can create living things. Everything you are made of and how you look and function comes from your DNA. The same is true for all living organisms. Ninety-nine percent of all human DNA has the same order of bases. The remaining 1% is what makes each person a little different from the next.

DNA is tiny, but it is super long. It will end up coiling itself up to save space. I mean, it does need to fit inside the nucleus of almost every cell in your body (I won’t go into mitochondrial DNA). In humans, DNA coils up and forms linier structures called chromosomes. We have 22 pairs on non-sex chromosomes (autosomal) and one pair of sex chromosomes (X and Y). The chromosomes come in identical pairs because that is what your body needs to have when it copies the DNA before a cell divides. DNA replication – that’s a whole other post.

When you talk about all the DNA in an organism, you are referring to the organism’s genome. The human genome contains around 3 billion base pairs. There are about 20,000-25,000 genes in the human genome, meaning that only around 2% of the 3 billion base pairs actually code for known things. The rest is random DNA or Junk DNA. Yup, that really is the scientific term for it, Junk DNA. It is not really “junk” and may/probably has a function, but scientists just don’t know what that function is.

DNA has a lot of other fun aspects to it. For instance, bacterial DNA comes in circular, not liner chromosomes. Organisms that live in more extreme environments often have higher G-C base pairings in their DNA. Guanine (G) binds with Cytosine (C) using three hydrogen bonds (compared to Adenine (A) and Thymine (T) using two) making it stronger and harder to break apart. DNA can come in a variety of helix types and has major and minor grooves which serve several functions… I could go on and on…

I think this is a good start to DNA. It should help demystify this crazy little double helix inside of you!