Today in your lunchtime roundup of morsels from the Web we go to the surface of the sun, check in on an infamous Indonesian boy and take note of an invader named Earl.
1. Gaze Into the All-Seeing Eye of the Sun
The New Jersey Institute of Technology’s Professor Philip R. Goode and a team of astronomers at the Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) have made “the most detailed” photo “ever obtained in visible light” of a sunspot. The Eye of Sauron-like sunspot was photographed via the largest earth-based telescope in the world. Additional photos (all presumably sans questing hobbits) will be published in the popular French astronomy mag Ciel et l’Espace later in September.
2. The World is Still Concerned About the Chain-Smoking Indonesian Toddler
Little Ardi Rizal is the adorable and tobacco-crazed Indonesia boy who first came to the attention of the world when video reports about his relentless chain-smoking went viral. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief at the news that Ardi has the monkey off his back. At his peak Ardi went through two packs a day, but the Indonesian government paid attention to the situation after Ardi’s video went worldwide and put the little guy in therapy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_te6dLVeqa8&feature=fvsr
3. Hurricane Earl Took a Turn for the Better
Hurricane Earl, once a tightly-wound category 4 monster, has weakened and wiggled a bit to the right. Earl is a category 1 hurricane now but presents about the same danger to New York and points north as a strong nor’easter. Did we dodge a bullet? More like a decent left hook. Earl will pass a hundred miles or so east of Montauk and cause mostly strong wind and rain, upsetting that last Labor Day getaway.
