Aurora Polaris or Polar Lights are a natural phenomenon that occur on both poles, not just the north. Scientifically The Northern Lights are called the Aurora Borealis and The Southern Lights as the Aurora Australis, but the phenomenon itself is categorized simply as "The Northern Lights".

The formation of The Aurora Borealis or The Northern Lights begin when the Sun ejects a cloud of gas, this process is called a Coronal Mass Ejection. It can take 2 to 3 days for the mass ejection to reach Earths Atmosphere. When it arrives to Earth's atmosphere, the gases collide with the Earth's magnetic field. When the collision occurs, it causes a complex change upon the magnetic tail region. A magnetic tail is a large wave of magnitivity between the Earth and Sun, its invisible but if you could see it, it would look in the shape of a comet stretching many miles with its tail in the opposite direction of the Sun. Continuing, when this happens, currents of charged particles flow along magnetic force lines into the Polars, and when they collide with Oxygen and Nitrogen Atoms, they produce a vast aurol light with many beautiful variety of colors.

Here is a video but with a bit of a time lapse of The Northern Lights. Enjoy.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcfWsj9OnsI

A very interesting and relaxing video to watch. It certainly did bring me questions on how they were able to create such beauty, how did they manipulate the light to such degree?

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utxRD414F3A

Simply beautiful.

The colonization of the Moon is the proposed establishment of permanent human communities on the Moon. Advocates of space exploration have seen settlement of the Moon as a logical step in the expansion of humanity beyond the Earth. Recent indication that water might be present in quantities at the Lunar poles have increased interest in the Moon. Polar colonies could also avoid the problem of long Lunar nights (about 354 hours, a little more than two weeks) and take advantage of the sun continuously.Permanent human habitation on a planetary body other than the Earth is one of science fiction's most prevalent themes. As technology has advanced, and concerns about the future of humanity on Earth have increased, the argument that space colonization is an achievable and worthwhile goal has gained momentum. Because of its proximity to Earth, the Moon has been seen as a prime candidate for the location of humanity's first permanently occupied extraterrestrial base.

Advantages:

Placing a colony on a natural body would provide an ample source of material for construction and other uses, including shielding from radiation. The energy required to send objects from the Moon to space is much less than from Earth to space. This could allow the Moon to serve as a construction site or fueling station for spacecraft. Some proposals include using electric acceleration devices (mass drivers) to propel objects off the Moon without building rockets. Others have proposed momentum exchange tethers (see below). Furthermore, the Moon does have some gravity, which experience to date indicates may be vital for fetal development and long-term human health. Whether the Moon's gravity (roughly one sixth of Earth's) is adequate for this purpose, however, is uncertain.
In addition, the Moon is the closest large body in the solar system to Earth. While some Earth-crosser asteroids occasionally pass closer, the Moon's distance is consistently within a small range close to 384,400 km. This proximity has several benefits:
Monetary (including space tourism), security, and technological gains.
The energy required to send objects from Earth to the Moon is lower than for most other bodies.
Transit time is short. The Apollo astronauts made the trip in three days and future technologies could improve on this time.
If the Moon were colonized then it could be tested if humans can survive in low gravity. Those results could be utilized for a viable Mars colony as well.
The short transit time would also allow emergency supplies to quickly reach a Moon colony from Earth, or allow a human crew to evacuate relatively quickly from the Moon to Earth in case of emergency. This could be an important consideration when establishing the first human colony.

Disadvantages:

There are several disadvantages to the Moon as a colony site;
The long Lunar night would impede reliance on solar power and require a colony to be designed that could withstand large temperature extremes. An exception to this restriction are the so-called "peaks of eternal light" located at the Lunar north pole that are constantly bathed in sunlight. The rim of Shackleton Crater, towards the Lunar south pole, also has a near-constant solar illumination. Other areas near the poles that get light most of the time could be linked in a power grid.
The Moon is highly depleted in light elements (volatiles), such as carbon, nitrogen and hydrogen. A number of robot probes including Lunar Prospector gathered evidence of hydrogen generally in the Moon's crust consistent with what would be expected from implantation from the solar wind, and higher concentrations near the poles. There had been some disagreement whether the hydrogen must necessarily be in the form of water. The LCROSS mission has definitely found evidence of water. This water would be in ice form perhaps mixed in small crystals in the regolith in a colder landscape than people have ever mined.

so i ask you, what is your opinion about "Colonization of the moon"?

-Dr. Rokkein

Welcome Intellectuals, now before I begin I want to assure you that I and everyone else knows about the discovery of H20 underneath frozen packed ice on Enceladus. But I wanted to create a topic over this amazing discovery and hear other opinions about the discovery or anything else that envolves the topic, Enjoy.

Now, to start.
Description:
Enceladus is the sixth-largest moon of Saturn. It was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. Until the two Voyager spacecraft passed near it in the early 1980s, very little was known about this small moon besides the identification of water ice on its surface. The Voyagers showed that the diameter of Enceladus is only 500 kilometers (310 mi), about a tenth of that of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, and reflects almost all of the sunlight that strikes it. Voyager 1 found that Enceladus orbited in the densest part of Saturn's diffuse E ring, indicating a possible association between the two, while Voyager 2 revealed that despite the moon's small size, it had a wide range of terrains ranging from old, heavily cratered surfaces to young, tectonically deformed terrain, with some regions with surface ages as young as 100 million years old.

Discovery:
In late 2008, scientists observed water vapor "spewing from Enceladus's surface." This could indicate the presence of liquid water, which might also make it possible for Enceladus to support life. Candice Hansen, a scientist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in California headed up a research team on the plumes after they were found to be moving at ~2,189 kilometers per hour (1,360 miles per hour). Since that speed is unusual and is usually attained when water is involved, they decided to investigate the compositions of the plumes. Evidence from the Cassini probe points to a possible global liquid ocean beneath the frozen surface. Particles of ice analyzed by Cassini revealed that the ice was of salt water which could, it is surmised, only occur in a large liquid body of water; as such Enceladus is a candidate for the harboring of extraterrestrial life. An alternative interpretation of the results is of large water filled caverns. On August 13, 2009 scientists announced that analysis of the vapor spewing from Enceladus' south pole contain unusually high levels of salt in the ice grains. Additionally, Cassini found traces of organic compounds such as carbonates and dust grains. All these together strengthen evidence that an ocean does exist under the moon's surface. The dust particles may be able to provide details that would normally require drilling to obtain. The presence of liquid water under the crust means there has to be an internal heat source. Scientists now believe it is a combination of radioactive decay and tidal heating, as tidal heating alone is not enough to explain the heat. Mimas, another of Saturn's moons, is closer to the planet and has a much more eccentric orbit, meaning the moon should be exposed to far greater tidal forces than Enceladus, and yet the object seems to be geologically dead judging from the old and scarred surface.

Now, that my lecture is almost over I'd like to hear from as many people as possible.
feel free to post a comment over this topic.

thank you, and have a great day.

-Dr. Rokkein

The following is material I researched upon but is not mine. In part 1. we mentioned the benefits of running, but in part two we will discuss the mechanics of running.


"Humans leap from one leg to the other while running. Each leap raises the center of gravity during take-off and lowers it on landing as the knee bends to absorb the shock. At mid arc, both feet are momentarily off the ground. This continual rise and fall of bodyweight expends energy opposing gravity and absorbing shock during take-off and landing. Running uses more energy than walking to travel the same distance. Therefore, running is less efficient than walking in terms of calories expended per unit distance, though it is faster."

Lower body motion-

"Running is executed as a sequence of strides, which alternate between the two legs. Each leg's stride can be roughly divided into three phases: support, drive, and recovery. Support and drive occur when the foot is in contact with the ground. Recovery occurs when the foot is off the ground. Since only one foot is on the ground at a time in running, one leg is always in recovery, while the other goes through support and drive. Then, briefly, as the runner leaps through the air, both legs are in recovery. These phases are described in detail below."

Support-

"During the support phase, the foot is in contact with the ground and supports the body against gravity. The body's centre of mass is typically somewhere in the lower abdominal area between the hips. The supporting foot touches the ground slightly ahead of the point that lies directly below the body's centre of mass. The knee joint is at its greatest extension just prior to the support phase. When contact is made with the ground, the knee joint begins to flex, and the extent it flexes varies with running style. Stiff-legged running styles reduce knee flexion, and looser, or more dynamic, running styles increase it. As the supporting leg bends at the knee, the pelvis dips down on the opposite side. These motions absorb shock and are opposed by the coordinated action of several muscles. The pelvic dip is opposed by the tensor fasciae lataeilio-tibial band of the supporting leg, the hip abductor, and the abdominals and lower back muscles. The knee flexion is opposed by the Muscle contraction eccentric contraction of the quadriceps muscle. The supporting hip continues to extend, and the body's centre of mass passes over the supporting leg. The knee then begins to extend, and the opposite hip rises from its brief dip. The support phase begins to transition into drive."

Recovery-

"When the driving toe loses contact with the ground, the recovery phase begins. During recovery, the hip flexes, which rapidly drives the knee forward. Much of the motion of the lower leg is driven by the forces transferred from the upper leg rather than by the action of the muscles. As the knee kicks forward, it exerts torque against the lower leg through the knee joint, causing the leg to snap upward. The degree of leg lift can be consciously adjusted by the runner, with additional muscle power. During the last stage of recovery, the hip achieves maximal flexion, and, as the lower leg rapidly unfolds, which it does in a passive way, the knee joint also reaches its greatest, though not full, extension. During this extension of the leg and flexion of the hip, the hamstring and gluteal muscles are required to stretch rapidly. Muscles which are stretched respond by contracting by a reflex action. Recovery ends when the foot comes into contact with the ground, transitioning again into the support phase."