Todo sobre la nieve

Have you ever looked at a snowflake and wondered how it formed or why it looks different from other snow you might have seen? Snowflakes are a particular form of water ice. Snowflakes form in clouds, which consist of water vapor. When the temperature is 32° F (0° C) or colder, water changes from its liquid form into ice. Several factors affect snowflake formation. Temperature, air currents, and humidity all influence shape and size. Dirt and dust particles can get mixed up in the water and affect crystal weight and durability. The dirt particles make the snowflake heavier, and can cause cracks and breaks in the crystal and make it easier to melt. Snowflake formation is a dynamic process. A snowflake may encounter many different environmental conditions, sometimes melting it, sometimes causing growth, always changing its structure.

What are common snowflake shapes?

Generally, six-sided hexagonal crystals are shaped in high clouds; needles or flat six-sided crystals are shaped in middle height clouds; and a wide variety of six-sided shapes are formed in low clouds. Colder temperatures produce snowflakes with sharper tips on the sides of the crystals and may lead to branching of the snowflake arms (dendrites). Snowflakes that grow under warmer conditions grow more slowly, resulting in smoother, less intricate shapes.

• 32-25° F - Thin hexagonal plates
• 25-21° F - Needles
• 21-14° F - Hollow columns
• 14-10° F - Sector plates (hexagons with indentations)
• 10-3° F - Dendrites (lacy hexagonal shapes)

Why are snowflakes symmetrical (same on all sides)?

First, not all snowflakes are the same on all sides. Uneven temperatures, presence of dirt, and other factors may cause a snowflake to be lop-sided. Yet it is true that many snowflakes are symmetrical and intricate. This is because a snowflake's shape reflects the internal order of the water molecules. Water molecules in the solid state, such as in ice and snow, form weak bonds (called hydrogen bonds) with one another. These ordered arrangements result in the symmetrical, hexagonal shape of the snowflake. During crystallization, the water molecules align themselves to maximize attractive forces and minimize repulsive forces. Consequently, water molecules arrange themselves in predetermined spaces and in a specific arrangement. Water molecules simply arrange themselves to fit the spaces and maintain symmetry.

Is it true that no two snowflakes are identical?

Yes and no. No two snowflakes are exactly identical, down to the precise number of water molecules, spin of electrons, isotope abundance of hydrogen and oxygen, etc. On the other hand, it is possible for two snowflakes to look exactly alike and any given snowflake probably has had a good match at some point in history. Since so many factors affect the structure of a snowflake and since a snowflake's structure is constantly changing in response to environmental conditions, it is improbable that anyone would see two identical snowflakes.

If water and ice are clear, then why does snow look white?

The short answer is that snowflakes have so many light-reflecting surfaces they scatter the light into all of its colors, so snow appears white. The longer answer has to do with the way the human eye perceives color. Even though the light source might not be truly 'white' light (e.g., sunlight, fluorescent, and incandescent all have a particular color), the human brain compensates for a light source. Thus, even though sunlight is yellow and scattered light from snow is yellow, the brain sees snow as white because the whole picture received by the brain has a yellow tint that is automatically subtracted.

 

It may be hard to find two snowflakes that look identical, but you can classify snow crystals according to their shapes. This is a list of different snowflake patterns.

Hexagonal Plates

Wilson A. Bentley

Hexagonal plates are six-sides flat shapes. The plates may be simple hexagons or they may be patterned. Sometimes you can see a star pattern in the center of a hexagonal plate.

Sponsored Links

PEEK - Machinable ShapesPlate up to 2.00" Thick Rods up to 10.00" Diameterwww.tridentepp.com

Network Diagram SoftwareDraw Network Diagrams in Minutes See Examples. Free Trial!www.SmartDraw.com

Wave PlatesUnited Crystals specializes in various quartz, mica wave plateswww.unitedcrystals.com

Stellar Plates

Wilson A. Bentley

These shapes are more common than the simple hexagons. The term 'stellar' is applied to any snowflake shape that radiates outward, like a star. Stellar plates are hexagonal plates that have bumps or simple, unbranched arms.

Stellar Dendrites

Wilson A. Bentley

Stellar dendrites are a common snowflake shape. These are the branching six-sided shapes most people associate with snowflakes.

Fernlike Stellar Dendrites

Wilson A. Bentley

If the branches extending from a snowflake look feathery or like the fronds of a fern, then the snowflakes are categorized as fernlike stellar dendrites.

Needles

USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

Snow sometimes occurs as fine needles. The needles may be solid, hollow, or partially hollow. Snow crystals tend to form needle shapes when the temperature is around -5°C.

Columns

USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Station

Some snowflakes are six-sided columns. The columns may be short and squat or long and thin. Some columns may be capped. Sometimes (rarely) the columns are twisted. Twisted columns are also called Tsuzumi-shaped snow crystals.

Bullets

USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

Column-shaped snowflakes sometimes taper at one end, forming a bullet shape. When the bullet-shaped crystals are joined together they can form icy rosettes.

Irregular Shapes

USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

Most snowflakes are imperfect. They may have grown unevenly, broken, melted and refrozen, or had contact with other crystals.

Rimed Crystals

USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Station

Sometimes snow crystals come in contact with water vapor from clouds or warmer air. When the water freezes onto the original crystal it forms a coating that is known as rime. Sometimes rime appears as dots or spots on a snowflake. Sometimes rime completely covers the crystal. A crystal coated with rime is called graupel.

 

 

Donde conseguir informacion sobre la AH1N1

Unfortunately, whenever there is some kind of disaster: health epidemic, weather events, etc. - there are also shady people that take advantage of this on the Web, putting out loads of misinformation and outright scams to pull in people who really need the information that they're looking for. Swine flu is no exception. Here are a few sites that you can trust to give you trustworthy information on this illness:

• Swine Flu H1N1: Specific information for swine flu and kids.
• H1N1 Swine Flu - What Is the H1N1 Swine Flu: A broad view of what the H1N1 flu is, symptoms, and treatments.
• 2009 H1N1 Flu: From the Center for Disease Control; frequently updated with state by state information, pamphlets, and vaccination resources.
• Swine Flu Symptoms: WebMD is a great place to get information, mostly because they take complicated medical terminology and translate it for us regular people.
• Swine Flu: MedlinePlus, from the National Institute of Health, offers up a ton of swine flu information for any age group; diagnosis, symptoms, latest news, prevention, etc.

Is there another source for swine flu/H1N1 information that you don't see listed here? Let us know in the comments.

Observan OVNIs

California - 10-15-09 - At around 06:30 after fueling up at a local gas station on my way to work (Park Ranger), I looked due east from Tipton, California, to the Sierra Mountains. I had earlier seen a flash of light from the corner of my eye. When I looked up, I saw what appeared to be a comet.

It was a bright star-like head with a gaseous tail. I thought "Wow cool!" got in my car and started to pull out. Then the "tail" changed directions 180 degrees, and was now pointed down, it also appeared to change course / direction.

While I knew it was traveling away from me, it appeared to be descending. As I continued to watch, the tail changed direction again to be behind the object (or to the rear of the direction traveling). I thought it may be a case of the sun trapping light in the clouds or water vapor as it had rained the day before, but this was 4 or 5 minutes, before dawn, and false dawn had not started yet.

No clouds were visible before or after dawn. The object disappeared behind the Sierra Nevadas, somewhere near the China Lake NWS region, it appeared to be descending. source: www.mufon.com

Michigan - 10-16-09 - On my way to work in Hayward at approximately 0700 hours, driving southward on Hayman Ave., I witnessed a small cloud emerge in the sky in the south.

Along with this cloud there was a blue streak about the same color as a blow torch flame. I thought that it was possibly the space shuttle reentering the earth's atmosphere, but still am unsure what the object was. source: www.mufon.com

New York - 10-16-09 - My friends and I were driving around my development when something caught my eye in the sky. The sky was overcast and the sun had just set. There were 3 lights stretching about 2/5 of the way down from the clouds, but still 3/5 of the way above the ground.

The lights illuminated the clouds where it penetrated and the light beams had a slightly larger diameter towards the bottom of the light compared to the top. The light created a cylinder-like beam with almost a root like tip at the end.

It was whitish and appeared slightly faded, but still very noticeable (lacked intensity). I have no idea what it was. No sound, movement, change in light intensity, they're just there. My friends dropped me off at my house and I have no idea if the lights are still out there or not. Side note: my dog and neighborhood dogs were strangely acting up tonight. source: www.mufon.com

Oregon - 10-15-09 - I walked outside with my girlfriend for a cigarette. We were talking about stars and I pointed one out that was bright enough to shine through a cloud to the southwest. She said, "That's not a star, that's a UFO."

And immediately after, it faded completely out, then reappeared, but this time in the middle of the cloud below it. Over the next fifteen to twenty minutes, we watched it blink in and out. It would get bright enough at its peak to rule out its being a star, and at its dimmest point, it would vanish completely.

After about twenty minutes, my girlfriend's brother, who we'd called out to come look, noticed a second light blinking red and white going toward it. When they got close to each other they both disappeared. They were gone for about ten minutes before, while I was writing this, the first light reappeared further to the west.

Right now I have to walk off of my back porch and look around a tree to see it, it's at roughly the same elevation and is still blinking. source: www.mufon.com

Esta cerca el anuncio

An official announcement by the Obama administration disclosing the reality of extraterrestrial life is imminent. For several months, senior administration officials have been quietly deliberating behind closed doors how much to disclose to the world about extraterrestrial life. Dissatisfaction among powerful institutions such as the U.S. Navy over the decades-long secrecy policy has given a boost to efforts to disclose the reality of extraterrestrial life and technology.

The impending disclosure announcement follows upon the secret implementation of a year long openness policy on UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Over the period February 12-14, 2008, the United Nations held closed doors discussions where approximately 30 nations secretly agreed on a new openness policy on UFOs and extraterrestrial life in 2009. The openness policy was implemented but never publicly announced due to threats against UN diplomats not to disclose details of the secret agreement. h The secret UN agreement was based on two conditions. First, UFOs would continue to appear around the world; and second, the openness policy would not lead to social unrest in liberal democracies. Both conditions have been satisfied making it possible for the next stage to begin – official disclosure of extraterrestrial life.

Obama's September 24, 2009 chairing of the UN Security Council meeting on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, signaled his emerging leadership role in tackling major global issues such as nuclear weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize was an important step in giving global legitimacy to President Obama in making an extraterrestrial disclosure announcement. Obama is therefore poised to play a prominent role in the increased global governance that will be necessary after an extraterrestrial disclosure announcement. The timing would most likely coincide sometime soon after his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech on December 10, 2009 in Oslo, Norway.

There have been various sources that have revealed deliberations are underway to make an announcement concerning the existence of extraterrestrial life by the end of 2009. These include, Dr Pete Peterson, a whistleblower who has recently emerged revealing high level discussions have taken place concerning announcing the existence of extraterrestrial life. In a Project Camelot interview, Dr Peterson revealed that "Obama is planning to disclose the reality of ET contact by the end of the year; and that most, but not all, of the ET visitors are friendly."

Another source is David Wilcock, a prominent researcher of emerging scientific paradigms. Wilcock has been told by additional independent sources that extraterrestrial disclosure will take place by the end of 2009. He furthermore claimed in a Coast to Coast AM radio interview that "a 2-hour international TV special has already been booked that will introduce an alien species, similar to humans, to the world."

In addition, popular NASA and space researcher, Richard Hoagland, has publicly come forward to reveal that the October 9, LCROSS 'bombing' mission of the moon, discovered an ancient base at the moon's South Pole. Reviewing the scientific data achieved by NASA's LCROSS mission, Hoagland concluded, also on the popular late night Coast to Coast AM radio show, that "LCROSS is part of a carefully constructed campaign to prepare the populace for imminent disclosure. The President of the United States will soon announce that scientists have discovered ruins on the moon, he added. Nobody saw the LCROSS debris plume because the probes struck a building which swallowed the effects of the explosion."

Finally, two independent and confidential sources have revealed to me that face to face meetings have recently occurred between U.S. military officials with one or more groups of extraterrestrial visitors. This has allegedly led to confidence being built for future cooperation with the extraterrestrials that will be formally announced to the world public either at the end of 2009, or early 2010.

In conclusion, a diverse number of sources and events point to some form of extraterrestrial disclosure being made by the end of 2009, or early 2010. Official disclosure will most likely emerge in either of two scenarios. One is that President Obama will announce the existence of extraterrestrial visitors, and describe one or more of these to the world. This scenario is supported by Peterson, Wilcock, and my own confidential sources. The second scenario is that an announcement will be made concerning the discovery of artificial structures at the moon's South Pole, as revealed by the LCROSS mission. This scenario is supported by Hoagland.

Which ever of the above scenarios is used for announcing the existence of extraterrestrial life or technology, President Obama will figure prominently. Behind the scenes, powerful institutions are ensuring that nothing derails the planned disclosure announcement. The disclosure will follow upon a year of greater government openness on UFOs in accord with a policy secretly developed at the United Nations. If extraterrestrial disclosure does occur at the end of 2009 or early 2010, President Obama will lead an unprecedented effort to promote global governance through the United Nations. The Obama administration and its supporters are poised to take a bold step forward in helping our planet become an interplanetary culture that openly deals with the challenges posed by extraterrestrial life.

The 15 Stupidest Products Of All Time (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

November 02, 2009

The 15 Stupidest Products Of All Time: The Final List (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

That's it. We've done it. After months of research and two previews slideshows, we've finally compiled the most inane, ridiculous, worthless products of all time. Now we need you to vote for the winners! Would you rather buy Aspray or spray-on hair? A Tiddy Bear or a Kush Support? It's up to you, dear readers.

UNSUBSCRIBE ME FROM THIS MAILING LIST

Que prefieres?

Ali vs. Frazier. Coke vs. Pepsi. Seinfeld vs. Newman.

Nothing stokes passion quite like a good, old rivalry. And in today's tech-crazy world, iPhone vs. BlackBerry is certainly a noteworthy clash among portable devices.

Which brings us to this Retrevo iPhone-BlackBerry survey. For this Gadgetology report, Retrevo decided to match up iPhone owners and BlackBerry owners against each other and see what makes them tick. For example, have you ever wondered which of the two is more likely to break up with their partners via phone? Well, scroll down below for the survey's findings.

• Guys and gals: The long ball apparently isn't the only thing that chicks dig. Women outnumbered men as iPhone owners by 53 percent to 47 percent. Men, on the other hand, outnumbered women by a larger margin for BlackBerry ownership &mdash 59 percent to 41 percent. Must be all those dudes in corporate America.
• Priorities, priorities: iPhone owners apparently find cool gadgets three times more attractive than a boring, old college degree while the reverse is true for BlackBerry owners. About 35 percent of iPhone owners also consider out-of-date gadgets owned by a potential romantic partner as a turn-off, compared to 29 percent for BlackBerry owners. At least the majority of folks on both sides are still sane on that front.
• A matter of perspective: iPhone owners rated themselves higher as intellectuals, extroverts and media buffs than BlackBerrry owners rated themselves. Amusingly enough, partners of BlackBerry owners rated their significant others a bit higher in those areas compared to how partners of iPhone owners rated their own partners. Can you say flame bait?
• Double standards? Although iPhone owners are more "addicted" to their phones, more of them are less forgiving of heavy smartphone use by their partners compared to BlackBerry owners. One in four iPhone owners have ended a relationship because their partner used their smartphone too much, compared to 17 percent for BlackBerry owners.

Now is it me or does it seem like more iPhone owners than BlackBerry owners come out looking like insufferable jerks in this survey? Then again, I always think surveys should be taken with a grain of salt, so I wouldn't take this stuff personally.

As for the early question about breakups by phone, the survey found that 33 percent of iPhone owners have broken up with someone "electronically" compared to 22 percent for BlackBerry owners. All I can say is, there must be an app for that.

Las 10 maneras mas amigables de matar a alguien

You know how sometimes you just want to kill? It's not like you're a bad person, you just want to seriously fuck someone up and make sure they die. Doesn't that happen on a daily basis? No? Shut up, stop lying. Well look, we like to kill, but we don't like getting all messy and hurting people's feelings. Just want that sweet, sweet murder. Here's a list of our favorite ways to kill a man, friendly style.

10. Laughing gas.

Why so serious, right? If they die laughing, they die happy and God lets them into heaven. You get murder, they get laughs, total win-win situation.

9. Force an overdose.

Whatever you want to say, MJ was happy when he died. He was so zooted out of his mind, he  still hasn't come down. He's still living that waking dream fueled with tranquilizers and anesthetics.

8. Ninja style.

Ninjas are clean and concise. No pain, no complain.

7. Buy him a pet tiger.

At first, he'll be all like, zomg, thanks for the pet tiger, homey, you're so awesome, just what I've always I dreamed of. Then you'll be like, totally dude, my pleasure. Then the tiger will be like, fuck this shit, I'm hongray, and proceed to attack with a carnivorous rage.

6. Poisoned wine.

This is like the user-friendly version of the OD. Let's face it, most people don't bring their Demerol and Oxies to the party, but dang, you could def bring a poisoned Cabernet and kill like your whole crew.

5. Hire a Mexican prostitute.

Remember those Mini Luchas that got killed by a gang of murderous Mexican prostitutes? Shit, we bet them little dudes still got their money's worth. If you die wearing an O face, your life was good.

4. Set a bounty.

Think if you knew someone had paid  a few thousands bucks to have you killed. That'd be a bit of an honor, right? Especially if you had someone famous out to get you, like Dog or Boba Fett. Having a bounty out is like the second highest form of flattery.

3. Challenge him to a duel.

Nobody wants to get stabbed in the back on the day they die. Just man up and stab a bitch in his face. He'll thank you for it later. IN HELL.

2. Sexual asphyxiation.

Note to all women trying to kill us: First choice, sit on our faces. We won't press charges.

1. Rip out his heart.

Um yeah, that's totally not friendly. We just really want to do that to someone. And yes, this is a cry for help. Call the authorities.