The continuum is loaded with science-y goodness this week. Check it out…

• “SOMETHING big is out there beyond the visible edge of our universe.” That’s the first sentence of this NewScientist article on “dark flow,” which is potentially the result of a neighboring universe gravitationally attracting galactic clusters in a particular direction. Coolest. Lede. Ever.
• The Space Shuttle Atlantis is set to launch today at 19:28 GT (2:28PM eastern time, or about 30 minutes from now). There’s a NASA Tweetup happening too. Follow the hashtag #nasatweetup.
• Check out this fascinating attempt to translate the famous Mandelbrot set fractal into a 3-D space.
• A never-before seen early cut of the second Star Trek pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before (directed by Vermonter James Goldstone), is being released with the upcoming release of the ST season three remastered disks. Nerd factor ten.
• Sometimes the Sun can appear to briefly give off green light at sunset. Astronomy Picture of the Day tells us why.
• Finally, remember the LCROSS mission last month that shot itself into the Moon and everyone said it was a bust because there was no plume visible from Earth. Yeah, well it turned up exactly what scientists were hoping it would — lots of water.

Addendum: I nearly forgot about the Leonids! NASA says…

On Nov. 17, 2009, Earth will pass through the 1466 stream again, but this time closer to the center. Based on the number of meteors observed in 2008, Vaubaillon can estimate the strength of the coming display: five hundred or more Leonids per hour during a few-hour peak centered on 21:43 UT.

“Our own independent model of the debris stream agrees,” says Cooke. “We predict a sub-storm level outburst on Nov. 17, 2009, peaking sometime between 21:34 and 21:44 UT.”

The timing favors observers in Asia, although Cooke won’t rule out a nice show over North America when darkness falls hours after the peak. “I hope so,” he says. “It’s a long way to Mongolia.”

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About the author

Bill Simmon
Bill Simmon is a filmmaker, writer and media educator in Burlington, VT. His particular interests include film, atheism, free speech, science fiction, astronomy and the social effects of the democratization of media and technology. Bill is the author of the award-winning blog, Candleblog.