I love pictures of the Earth from space. They give us a great perspective on our little planet down here. And sometimes they are simply stunning for their own sake… like this shot of lightning internally illuminating a storm cloud over Brazil:
[Click to 1.21gigawattenate.]
That was taken by astronaut Paolo Nespoli in January 2011 as the Space Station passed overhead. Having lived in several storm-prone areas I’ve seen lightning flash in huge thunderclouds from below, from the side, and even once from above in an airplane (which was awesome and terrifying), but never like this. If it weren’t for the caption on that picture I’d have never guessed what it was. Amazing.
I have to laugh, though: given the language they speak in Brazil, isn’t it funny it looks like a Portuguese Man o’ war?
Image Credit: ESA/NASA
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May 19th, 2011 at 7:26 am
And here´s a portuguese almost hit by a lighting caught on tape.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2XUEPFdFEk&feature=player_detailpage#t=15s
May 19th, 2011 at 7:39 am
When I saw that headline I was afraid that you had somehow gotten your hands on pictures from my colonoscopy.
Relieved.
May 19th, 2011 at 7:43 am
It’s 1.21 gigawattenate…21 would just have vaporized the car!
May 19th, 2011 at 8:16 am
My first thought was that it was a picture of a night-time shuttle launch after it was above the clouds. The color of the light would likely be different, though.
May 19th, 2011 at 8:20 am
Having flown all over the world, and seen many weather pattersn, I can say watching thunderstorms from altitude is one of my favorite things. I am jealous that these guys have an even better vantage point!
May 19th, 2011 at 8:39 am
Yeah, I would have voted for some sort of food item (cauliflower?) making its way through the gut.
Really must learn to chew your food.
May 19th, 2011 at 9:14 am
If I was on the space station, they would have to pry me off the window with a crowbar- that’s where my face would be glued the entire time I was up there. Ah well, one can dream, right?
May 19th, 2011 at 9:33 am
My search for the American who knows that people in Brazil speak Portuguese instead of Spanish is now over.
May 19th, 2011 at 9:40 am
@James H: It might as well be 1.21 jiggawattenate.
May 19th, 2011 at 9:55 am
Nice shot!! Nice to know that my country’s name gets to appear in this blog!! Weeeeeee!
BTW Brazil, specially the Minas Gerais state, is one of the countries where power lines are more difficult to design because the keraunic level is very high along with the ground resistances. They need good ground electrodes in order to put things working as they should. Interesting that even in space we get the idea of how harsh stuff is down there, yet it feels so peaceful up there…
May 19th, 2011 at 10:14 am
When I read the title, I thought this one might be about a NSFW postscript to Tim Minchin’s beat poem.
May 19th, 2011 at 11:43 am
@Chris A -
Seeing the tip of the wing of the fairy isn’t enough for you?
May 19th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
I like to say we speak Brazilian, because damn it, I just can’t understand a thing when I try to speak Portuguese with someone from Portugal.
May 19th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
@Chris A & Bill, I’d rather see the flowers.
May 19th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
I was in a non-stopping flight from Brasilia to Curitiba earlier this year and when I was over Sao Paulo, I saw several clouds like this one:
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficheiro:Nuvem_cogumelo_originada_de_uma_tempestade_em_Frederico_Westphalen-_RS.jpg
At 10km or 30000 ft from the ground they are beautiful and scary. I got “lucky” when I saw one. Lucky at a safe distance.
May 19th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
@Petrucio (#13):
Do you suppose the creationists get their knickers in a twist when people speak of the evolution of language? Based on your experience, one might argue that Brazilian Portuguese is on the cusp of becoming a new “species,” linguistically speaking.
May 19th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
Oops, missed this: all of those clouds were striking huge amount of lightnings, with a pretty close view to that picture from ISS.
May 19th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
I would have guessed this was a nebula!
May 19th, 2011 at 5:21 pm
@Chris A. (#16):
I don’t think they are intellectually honest enough to realize there’s a problem in this. I’m not sure pt-br should yet be considered a new ‘species’, since we can still succesfully ‘mate’ with the Portuguese, although with considerable effort. But when you install a program, you don’t see en-us and en-uk listed, despite their differences, but you do see pt-pt and pt-br…
Anywhere there’s inheritance and variation there will be evolution, be it genetics, memetics, linguistics (a part of memetics), an evolutionary algorithm, or wherever.
May 19th, 2011 at 5:35 pm
@Petrucio (#19) For what it’s worth, I often see en-US and en-GB in localization libraries.
May 19th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
@JC (#20):
I agree, there are those, but it’s not like every program you install, like Firefox, Google Earth, or Windows itself, and there’s a en-GB option.
May 20th, 2011 at 12:45 am
Reminds me of Ellen Ripley:
“I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”
May 20th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
@Petrucio
The written language is more similar between between pt-PT and pt-BR than for en-US and en-GB (color and colour, for example).
But it’s true there are big phonetic differences in the pronunciation of the same words, many words that are only used by one population or the other (a lot of that technical words) and some words that have different meanings.
On the other hand, being from Portugal, I did feel the same trying to understand a native from the Azores islands, and it’s the same country (and the same language). I’m sure there are parts in Brasil also known for it’s thick pronunciations…
May 20th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
Now, if they ONLY had an x-ray and gamma detector aimed at the same spot.
I STILL remember scientists being shocked by detecting x-rays and gamma from mere, mortal thunderstorms…
And sprite and elf formation being disregarded, until many photographs were exhibited. Such phenomena being ONLY considered possible previously generated ONLY by nuclear weapons detonating.
One just LOVES when one actually LOOKS, rather than ASSUMES. It’s all so, scientific and all!
More importantly, one MUST love that heretic scientist that actually DOES look, rather than assume, based upon “conventional wisdom”. Who knows? One of those maniacs might give a final clue that reveals grand unified theory!
May 20th, 2011 at 10:22 pm
For those discussing Portuguese dialects spoken throughout the world, you’re not alone.
I have a good friend from Saudi, who, upon arriving in Qatar, had quite a bit of linguistic adjustment to make.
Now, get a map, get a chuckle.
THEN, consider that I’m in Pennsylvania, yet have trouble understanding the American English spoken by folks in West Virginia, up in the mountains…
Linguistic drift is nothing new. It’s been around ever since language was developed and people moved.