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    The Science and Technology Brief is a biweekly glance at interesting science and technology news and profiles on science and technology that is or will affect us all. For Tuesday: ‘The Sand Dunes of Titan’, ‘The ‘Shark Fin’ of Saint Helens’, and ‘Keeping it Real: Science at the Movies’.
The Sand Dunes of Titan
    To hear the folks at NASA tell it, Titan might just be our solar system’s Tatooine. It turns out that significant portions of Titan’s surface are covered in sand and that winds generated by the moon’s close proximity to Saturn create great migrating dunes reminiscent of the Sahara.
    What we’re learning as we begin to truly explore beyond Planet Earth is that the universe is an amazingly diverse and often unexpected place. Every time we think we’ve learned what there is to know, creation comes along and says ‘No so quick’. That’s what makes exploration worth doing- wanting to see what we discover next.
The ‘Shark Fin’ of Saint Helens
    Mount Saint Helens, of early 80s exploding volcano fame, is once again drawing attention because of a new geological feature: a 300 foot tall and growing rock ‘fin’ that is extending out of its crater as the volcano rebuilds is shattered lava dome. These pictures are worth looking at: USGS, USGS, USGS, USGS, USGS, all from this site.
Keeping it Real: Science at the Movies
    Here’s a scientist who I think gets it. Ivan Schuller has taken his research into nanotechnology and produced a film which attempts to explain that science to a wider audience. In doing so, Schuller acknowledges that science is not just for scientists, but for all of us who could benefit from science. More scientists could afford to look into Schuller’s methods.
DLH
