FLIGHT ATTENDANTS AT HIGHER RISK OF CANCER: According to a new study of more than 5,000 flight attendants, the crews of aircraft have higher rates of cancer than the general population. This includes cancers of the breast, cervix, skin, thyroid and uterus, as well as gastrointestinal cancers. What's happening? The researchers, led by Irina Mordukhovich of Harvard University, listed cosmic rays, irregular sleep habits, and chemical contaminants as likely risk factors. Read the original research here.
MIDNIGHT RAINBOW: A rainbow at midnight? Believe it. On June 25th, red rays from the midnight sun in Nome, Alaska, lanced into a bank of rain clouds, producing this strange red arc:
"The rainbow developed, then disappeared and reappeared, slowly growing into a full arc around 1:30am here in Alaska," says photographer John Dean.
At the time, the sun was hugging the horizon, barely half a degree high. This explains why the rainbow was red. Normal rainbows are red, yellow, green and blue. In this case, however, red was the only color available. All of the other colors had been scattered away by air molecules and dust particles in front of the low-hanging sun.
Red rainbows are more common than you might think. They appear with frequency at sunrise or sunset, all around the world. More examples may be found in the realtime photo gallery:
Realtime Space Weather Photo Gallery
NIGHT-SHINING CLOUDS VS. AURORAS: The cockpit of an airplane can be a good place to see space weather in action. "On June 20th I witnessed a rare coincidence of two space weather apparitions!" reports pilot Ulrich C. Beinert. "I was flying from Los Angeles to Munich, passing over Canada, when a rippling band of noctilucent clouds (NLCs) appeared. Soon they were joined by Northern Lights."
Beinert's photo captures an unusual meeting of green auroras and electric-blue NLCs. The auroras were caused by solar wind gently buffeting Earth's magnetic field, sparking a verdant glow 100 to 200 km above Earth's surface. Noctilucent clouds are completely different. They are formed when summertime wisps of water vapor rise to the top of the atmosphere and crystallize around specks of meteor smoke. NLCs float about 80 km high, just below the aurora zone.
Because summer is the season for NLCs, it is the only time they can meet auroras in sub-Arctic skies. "It was amazing to see them together," says Beinert.
Realtime Noctilucent Cloud Photo Gallery
ONE RING TO RULE THE STRATOSPHERE: This week, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus are in New Zealand launching cosmic ray balloons over Earth's 8th continent. To pay for the helium, they launched a ring of power to the stratosphere. Here it is floating 33 km above the Sierra Nevada mountains of central California:
You can have one for $119.95. The students are selling these rings as a fundraiser for their trip. They are made of golden-colored tungsten and inscribed with the authentic Mordor script of the One Ring.
Buy one now, and we will fly it again for you over Hobbiton, located in the North Island of New Zealand where our cosmic ray balloons will be released. Just note "Please fly it again!" in the comments section at checkout.
Each golden ring comes with a greeting card showing the ring in flight and telling the story of its journey to the edge of space. Sales support the Earth to Sky Calculus cosmic ray ballooning program and hands-on STEM research.
Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All proceeds support hands-on STEM education