This video shows Earth’s weather from August 17-26, 2009. It also shows how beautiful this planet is and how insignificant we are. It was created at a 7km resolution with NASA’s GEOS-5 atmospheric general circulation model.

The GEOS-5 atmospheric model was developed by NASA Goddard’s scientists. It’s based on the Earth System Modelling Framework, an open-source project “for building climate, numerical weather prediction, data assimilation and other Earth science software applications”.

To really appreciate its beauty, you can watch the 1080p high definition video at NASA. [NASA via @NASAGoddard]

If you saw this over your head, what would you think? Aliens have come to kick our asses? God has come to kick our asses? Apparently, the bizarre cloud formation seen in Moscow recently is just a natural phenomenon.

Talking to the Daily Mail, a spokesman from Moscow’s weather forecasting service said: “Several fronts have been passing through Moscow recently, there was an intrusion of the Arctic air too, the sun was shining from the west – this is how the effect was produced.

“This is purely an optical effect, although it does look impressive,” he added.

Ok, so it’s just clouds — but when you watch the video you still expect an alien ship to drop through that hole with lasers blazing. [Telegraph]

But I did what any geek would do. I regressed into an excited 10-year-old, grabbed the camera, and went out to play in the freakish weather. After five minutes of constantly clearing my throat, and noticing that my G9 had started to collect dust, I decided it just wasn’t worth it. Having been asleep with a window open meant a little dust was also inside. I switched off my main desktop (it’s got a big air-intake fan), and fired up a laptop to find out what the hell was going on.

Big winds had swept the dust from Australia’s drought-stricken interior, carrying it hundreds of kilometres to the east coast. Sydney (with a population of 4.3 million) was most affected, but other cities were, too. In terms of air pollution, particle concentration reached a thickness of about 15,000 micrograms per cubic metre — a normal day here has about 10-20.

Comedian Arj Barker (from Flight of the Conchords) Tweeted this pic: “It’s like Dune here in Sydney. This is the giant dust storm we had to land in.”

Until winds swept the dust to sea mid-afternoon, flights were cancelled, Twitter went crazy, MMS traffic spiked 50% and data centres installed air filters…it was interesting to watch how technology intersected with the bizarre weather.

The dust cloud was the worst in 70 years, and it’s still unclear if climate change was to blame. But at the very least, I got a dusty taste of life on Mars for the day (well, sort of). [Sydney Morning Herald]

Nah, it’s one of the many art installations sprinkled over the dusty playa at Burning Man 2009. This year’s theme is Evolution: A Tangled Bank. Safe travels if you’re a weekend burner, and don’t forget the white distilled vinegar to neutralise the super-fine alkaline playa dust!

One year later (and having travelled around three continents since), I’m still spotting in random places, most recently in my hiking shoes. [San Francisco Chronicle]

“Listen,” she said, “I have to come to the office in the subway, with this horrible heat and humidity killing me. That’s why I wear shorts. But then, when I come to the office we get this summertime sub-zero air conditioning, blowing at full, and I freeze! That’s why I got the Slanket.”

She is so right. She may not look as pretty with the Slanket, but it’s actually freezing here. This is the irony of spending summer in NY or any other city in the world: You go through your day suffering artificial winter in t-shirt and shorts, only to be toasted a minute later as you go down to grab a sandwich.

So as I write these lines and feel the hypothermia coming in, the frostbite on my feet — only protected with Havaianas — I wish I had a Slanket too. Definitely the ultimate accessory for summer in the city.

Along with ex-Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold, Gates has applied for five patents that call for a fleet of specially equipped vessels to be deployed in a hurricane’s path—vessels that are capable of reducing the surface temperature of the ocean by mixing in colder water from greater depths. This would reduce the heat-driven condensation that fuels hurricanes.

Of course, significantly altering the surface temperature of a large body of water is going to require many, many ships…a reality that is not lost on Gates. In the patent filings, there are a few proposals on how an endeavor like this one could be financed—including selling insurance policies in areas that are prone to major storms. While I seriously doubt the plausibility of such a scheme, if anyone can pull it off it would be Bill Gates. Besides, even if this doesn’t work out he always has his important work with high tech kegs to fall back on. [Patent via Tech Flash via Slashdot via PopSci]

•Built-in solar panel converts sunlight energy into electrical energy for the 600mAH rechargeable battery
•Future weather forecast with graphical icons: Sunny, Partly Cloudy, Cloudy, Rainy and Snowy
•Displays temperature and humidity for up to three different remote locations
•Radio-controlled clock and calendar
•LED backlight and mold alert alarm

The problem is I find weather forecasts to be largely unreliable. All I need is a little observation and the unparalleled scientific accuracy of my trick knee. [Oregon Scientific via Gearlog]

Storm chasers drive towards tornados, hoping to photograph them from up close and study them as they’re happening. But usually they just get close. Not last week, when these storm chasers went inside a twister.

This happened last week in Goshen co., Wyoming, the clip taken by the TornadoVideos.net SRV Dominator. The footage is impressive not because of what it does capture (the inside of a tornado) but also because of what it doesn’t (girlish screaming and crying). [TornadoVideos.net via Neatorama]

From the app’s descritption: “A beautiful girl will tease you until you get today’s forecast with your sky condition and the temperature you’ll feel.” Well, alright. She could be a little less conservatively dressed in some of these, but beggars can’t be choosers I suppose.

And here I was reading David Lynch’s LA forecasts like a sucker. I don’t even LIVE in LA. But this does bring up an interesting collaboration possibility: Sexy David Lynch Weather Forecasts? Now we’re talking. Pin Up Weather costs $US2. [App Store]