The Sky Will Offer A Triple Thrill This Weekend
We are in for a celestial treat this weekend.
The snow moon, which is what tonight’s full moon has been dubbed, is going to be blocked for a time by a penumbral lunar eclipse. It’s called that because the moon will pass through the edge of the Earth's shadow, so it won’t be a full blown eclipse.
Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova will be visible in the predawn hours by skywatchers using binoculars or small telescopes through Sunday, in the constellation Hercules in the eastern sky. The comet's closest approach will come on Saturday, when it will pass just 7.4 million miles (12 million kilometers) from Earth.
The comet will be easy to spot, since it’s green, unlike most. If you can’t get outside for these events, watch both on Space.com.Source: Space.com
Town Cancels A Valentine’s Dance Because Of An Old Law
No one will be cutting a rug in one Oklahoma town on Valentine’s Day.
In Henryetta, Oklahoma, an old ordinance that's never been enforced is preventing the town from holding a Valentine's dance. The archaic law says there's no dancing allowed 500 feet from a church. A marketplace where the dance was planned is 300 feet from a church. In the past, the law has never been enforced according to town officials.
But this time, resident Robbie Kinney raised the question and posted it on Facebook. City officials researched it and discovered that "yes," the anti-dancing ordinance is still on the books.
Kinney has been ripped over asking and reminding people it’s illegal. Though the law has never once been enforced, Kinney says "Laws are laws, and we're going to abide by them. We can't pick and choose what laws we uphold.”
The dance organizer decided to cancel it. Mayor Jennifer Clason says the decision was based mostly because her husband is the city attorney for Henryetta and he has an oath to enforce the law.
City council will mull over removing the ordinance from the books at it’s next meeting…after Valentine’s Day. Source: KTUL
Oculus IS Bringing Out VR Gloves
As if virtual reality wasn’t cool enough, it’s about to get even more “real.”
Oculus is moving to let people fingerpaint, type, and act like a superhero in virtual reality. The VR hardware and software maker owned by Facebook is developing gloves that make those things, and more, possible.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who gets to play with all the cool new toys, showed off the gloves yesterday during a tour of Oculus Research in suburban Seattle. Zuckerberg posted on Facebook that Oculus is working on new ways to bring hands into virtual reality. He writes that the gloves let people draw, type on a virtual keyboard, and even shoot webs like Spider-Man.
Don’t look for them anytime soon. There are some glitches to work out.Source: The Verge
iPhone 8 Could Come Out Sooner Than Later
Out with the old, in with the new. You might be able to buy the iPhone 8 sooner than you think. According to the research firm BlueFin Research Partners, the official word could come in June.
But there is a catch (because, of course there is). Traditionally, new iPhones are announced in the fall with release soon after but this time, the announcement is believed to come in later spring with ability to purchase by end of summer.
Judging by leaked prototypes, it's much sleeker with a bigger screen and a newly updated camera shape. Oh, and if you already have the seven, you now know how it feels to be in one day and out the next!
No confirmations yet, but at least Apple is giving us a heads up this time to get our money right (as the 8 could run you upwards of $1k)!
Source: BlueFin
A Man Is Trying To Sell A Giant Piece Of Cereal For $1,250
A man may have lucked into $1,250 thanks to his cereal choice. Englishman Steven Marriott was pouring his son a bowl of Kellogg's Bran Flakes when a massive 5.5-inch by 4-inch flake came out.
"It's definitely bran flake material but I didn't fancy eating it," Marriott says. "It is being kept in the cupboard at the moment but I am not sure what we are going to do with it."
It turns out another person sold a massive piece of cereal and made over $1-thousand, so he's considering putting it on eBay. In the meantime, Marriott sent a photo to Kellogg's and is waiting to see if they give him a free box of cereal. The company did release a statement congratulating Marriott on finding a "super Bran Flake" and asked to be kept in the loop if it ends up being a world record breaker.
Source: Mirror
You're Probably Eating Fleece Every Time You Eat Seafood
If a piece of fuzz from your fleece has ever made its way onto your food and into your mouth, you've probably spit it out because you think eating microfibers is pretty gross. But there's a chance that that same fuzz is already in what you're eating anyway.
Chelsea Rochman, a biologist and ecologist at the University of Toronto, St. George, told NPR, "I have no doubt that every time I eat oysters and mussels I eat at least one microfiber." Rochman studies microplastics in marine habitats and says microfibers are one of the most common plastic debris items in environmental samples and animals.
Previous studies have found microfibers in table salt in China, and a 2011 study found that microfibers made up 85 percent of human debris on shorelines across the globe.
Last September, Patagonia and the University of California, Santa Barbara, conducted a study that found that a fleece jacket can shed microfibers up to 2 grams (think: the weight of a pen cap, or a paper clip).
So, how does the microfiber end up back in the environment after it gets washed? While in the washer, the microfibers are carried down the drain and end up in wastewater treatment plants. Many fibers can't be filtered out and get released into the environment.
Right now there's no science as to how these microfibers affect the human body. What researchers do know is that ingesting microfibers leads to increased mortality in water fleas and overall makes crabs eat less.
Regardless of the microfibers, Rochman continues to eat seafood. "I see dust in the air and we inhale that. The question is, at what point does it become a problem?" she told NPR.
Gregg Treinish, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation, has short-term solutions to minimize pollution in the first place. He told NPR that by rigging his washing machine with a filter, he's been able to catch microfibers before they go down the drain and into the waterways.
A simpler solution that Treinish hopes will catch on is for people to wash their fleece less often. "Obviously I'll wash my jacket if a kid throws up on it, but not if I just wore it once," he said.