Coming Soon...Friday Fun Time! Brought to You by Nicole

Lots of carefully alphabetized activities are in store for you all starting this month! Some of you are already familiar with me, either from my guest posts at Tossing It Out or by reading my blog, The Madlab Post. For those who may not have ever read my posts, however, here is a quick primer: I am a writer and filmmaker who sometimes publishes short movie reviews and helps other blog readers figure out whether they comment like Harry Potter or not. You can Get to Know more about me Here, if you’re really interested.

In the weeks to come, I will be hosting A to Z themed blog posts for your reading pleasure, every Friday. These posts will include word scramble games, detailed writing prompts to get you prepared for the next Blogging from A to Z Challenge and letter craft tutorials. Depending on the subject matter, each post will be a part of one of three series, unless otherwise noted. The Friday series includes:

Alphabet Soup - A word scramble game 

The Alphabet Remix - A to Z Challenge writing prompts 

Letter Play - Alphabet crafts, design and related DIY tips 

Now, answer me this...

What letters did YOU find the most difficult to blog about during this year’s 2012 A to Z Challenge? 

Happy blogging everyone!

NICOLE
The Madlab Post 
Home of the Monday Movie Meme!
@MadlabPost on Twitter

Latest and Greatest In The World of Science

Hi everyone, and thanks for joining Stephen Tremp here at the Official Blogging A to Z Challenge site. I’ve started a new series every other Thursday spotlighting the latest and greatest in the world of science. I’ll focus mainly on physics, astronomy, and nanotechnology and how recent discoveries help unlock the secrets of our universe and our place in it. Sound fun?

Oh, and I need a name for the series, so if you can think of something clever and catchy, please post it in the comments. Thanks!

May 2 Black Hole Caught Red-Handed in a Stellar Homicide PASADENA, Calif. – Astronomers have gathered the most direct evidence yet of a supermassive black hole shredding a star that wandered too close. Supermassive black holes, weighing millions to billions times more than the sun, lurk in the centers of most galaxies. These hefty monsters lie quietly until an unsuspecting victim, such as a star, wanders close enough to get ripped apart by their powerful gravitational clutches.

May 8 NASA's Spitzer Sees the Light of Alien 'Super Earth PASADENA, Calif. – NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected light emanating from a "super-Earth" planet beyond our solar system for the first time. While the planet is not habitable, the detection is a historic step toward the eventual search for signs of life on other planets. "Spitzer has amazed us yet again," said Bill Danchi, Spitzer program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The spacecraft is pioneering the study of atmospheres of distant planets and paving the way for NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope to apply a similar technique on potentially habitable planets."

May 14 Earth-Orbiting Asteroids An asteroid the size of a school bus gave Earth a close shave Sunday, passing well inside the orbit of the moon, but our planet was never in any danger of being hit. Such close asteroid flybys aren't terribly uncommon. Researchers have discovered about 8,900 near-Earth asteroids, though they think many more are out there. Scientists with the Near-Earth Object Program and other teams of astronomers regularly monitor the sky for large, potentially dangerous asteroids to determine if they pose an impact threat to Earth.

May 15 Space Mining Less than three weeks after officially unveiling its asteroid-mining plans, the billionaire-backed firm Planetary Resources has already received thousands of job applications, The company plans to mine near-Earth asteroids for platinum-group metals and water. Water can be broken into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen, the chief components of rocket fuel. The company hopes its efforts lead to the establishment of in-space "gas stations" that allow many spacecraft to refuel cheaply and efficiently. Swarms of low-cost unmanned spacecraft would extract resources from asteroids in deep space. Check out this my post of Asteroid Mining from the A to Z Challenge Space Mining Upcoming Celestial Events

May 20 Rare Ring Eclipse A rare "ring" eclipse is coming to California this weekend — the first of its kind to enter the continental United States since 1994. The zone where a partial eclipse is viewable is much wider, stretching over most of eastern China, Korea, the Philippines, Siberia, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. NASA has posted calculations of solar eclipse times in foreign countries and the United States. NASA has also set up a nifty interactive Google map showing times of the eclipse California. A word of caution: don't look at the sun directly during the eclipse! Experts say it's possible to cause permanent damage to eyesight. Check the Internet for Webcasts of the event!

June 6 The Rarest Eclipse: Transit of Venus Across the Face of the Sun A Venus transit is a phenomenon in which the disk of the planet Venus passes like a small shadow across the face of the Sun. The transit can be seen (with proper protection!) by the unaided eye and looks something like a moving sunspot. Among the rarest of astronomical events, Venus transits occur eight years apart—and then don’t happen again for more than a century. The last transit before 2004 took place in 1882.

You can visit Stephen Tremp at his blog at Breakthrough Blogs.

Post A-to-Z Road Trip - Join us!

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Post A-to-Z Road Trip, previously known as the Post-Challenge-Challenge, or PCC

I think the dust has settled a bit, and that life (which is Good!) is slowly returning to normal.  I'm not labeling this as good or bad, just that it's a bit weird (see, so tired I can't come up with a unique adjective..) For the last four months, my on-line life has been dedicated to the wonderful challenge we just completed, and now all of a sudden, I'm free to...yeah.  Whatever!  My time is mine, to do with as I please.  I find myself at a loss, trying to decide what to do next.  

And do you know what I want to do now?  Go for a road trip.

This isn't a normal road trip.  There are no roads, no cars, no fast-food, no “next rest-area 54 miles are you SURE you don't have to pee?” signs.  This is a road-trip that is unending when you first look at it.  But as you peer closer, read the signs, and digest the purpose, I think it's a road trip you'll want to be a part of.

I'm talking about the continuing journey of blog-visiting, networking, exploration, spelunking even, if you're willing to stretch a metaphor.  Gone fishing.  For blogs.  For blogs that interest and infuriate and aggravate and make you cry and make you sob with joy.  A journey where around each bend is a new piece of the road to be discovered.  Blogland is a big place, and the 1700+ folks who joined the A-Z are still welcoming visitors.  I intend to be one of them.  Would you consider joining us?  

The Post A-to-Z Road Trip is a new challenge for you, but one with no real time limit, other than before the next A-to-Z Challenge begins in April 2013.  The goal?  To visit all of the blogs who signed up for the A-to-Z, in whatever time frame you find manageable.  We’ll have weekly check-ins and a linky sign-up here at the A-to-Z Challenge Blog.  You will not be required to check-in, but the option is there.  

You can approach this challenge any way you want.  If you’re like Tina, you’re going to want a plan of attack.  Tina has a wonderfully mathematical mind; last year she set herself an end date, figured out how many blogs that would require her to visit each day, and she went for it.

Or maybe you’re a little more like me, Miss ADHD.  One day I’ll hit up 100 blogs, not visit any for a week, then hit twenty a day for three days straight.  You never know when I’ll be hopping around the interwebs, but by golly, I get it done!  Oooo, shiny...

Most likely, you’re somewhere between the two of us.  The beautiful thing is, it doesn’t matter.  Hit that list however you want, whatever gets you through it to the end.  You don’t want to miss all those wonderful blogs out there.  There are so many, with so much to say.  Come along with us and meet some new friends, stress-free!  This is THE road trip for the summer, so put on your favorite station, open the windows and sit back.  It’s time for the Post A-to-Z Road Trip.  Who knows what souvenirs we might bring back.

Sign up on the linky any time the mood strikes you.  We’ll leave it open through the end of December.  That doesn’t mean the Road Trip ends then, but just that no one can put their name on the linky after that.  

There are no rules.  You can find Tina and I here, or on our individual blogs, Life is Good (Tina) and The Warrior Muse (Shannon).  Feel free to come to us with questions, ideas, feedback, etc.  Now, let’s get packed!

P.S. Feel free to take the badge above for your blog!