Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute • Click to enlarge

Saturn’s North Polar Hexagon

Saturn’s north polar hexagon basks in the Sun’s light now that spring has come to the northern hemisphere. Many smaller storms dot the north polar region and Saturn’s signature rings, which appear to disappear on account of Saturn’s shadow, put in an appearance in the background.

The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft’s wide-angle camera on Nov. 27, 2012 using a spectral filter sensitive to wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 750 nanometers.

The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 403,000 miles (649,000 kilometers) from Saturn and at a Sun-Saturn-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 21 degrees. Image scale is 22 miles (35 kilometers) per pixel.

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My favorite image of the day: President Obama giving the Hawaiian “shaka” sign as the Punahou Marching Band passes the reviewing stand.

Todd Robertson/Gainesville Times • Click to enlarge

Also see:
How KKK Rally Image Found New Life 20 Years After It Was Published

From the White House’s Photostream on Flickr, here’s President Obama with Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney, learning how to do her “not impressed” look.

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Almost as funny, here’s the reaction of Michelle Malkin’s Twitchy.com, where they saw this tweet from McKayla Maroney…

Did I just do the Not Impressed face with the President..?

— McKayla Maroney (@McKaylaMaroney) November 15, 2012

…and instantly twitched to the wrong conclusion: Gymnast McKayla Maroney Not Impressed With President Obama?

All Eyes Are on Newborn Gorilla at Lincoln Park Zoo.

On October 11, a healthy baby Western Lowland Gorilla was born at the Lincoln Park Zoo — an important addition to this critically endangered species.

The baby has yet to be sexed or named and appears to be doing well. Mother Bana, 17, is showing appropriate maternal instincts, while dad Kwan, a 23-year-old silverback, is watchful over the mom and baby pair.

“Hello, Oval Office … may I help you?”

(h/t: @psddluva4evah.)

As I’ve noted previously, psychologists have an acronym to describe a very common behavioral strategy used by abusers and bullies, and every day I see examples of this strategy being employed by the Mitt Romney campaign and by the right wing in general. I went looking for an image to illustrate this acronym and didn’t find anything, so I broke out the 200-point Helvetica Bold and made this.

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yfrog.com/5e616lj President Obama is lifted in the air by Scott Van Duzer, owner of theBig Apple Pizza owner.

— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) September 9, 2012

And the followup:

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But wait … it gets even better:

That pic just got better. RT @laurameckler: Pizza shop owner says he’s a Republican who voted for Obama in ‘08 & will in ‘12. #goodstaffwork

— Danielle Blake (@DCPlod) September 9, 2012

You have to wonder how Mitt Romney would react to being hugged like that.

It’s ridiculous to even speculate, of course, because no one would want to.

Meanwhile, at a diner in Ohio, the real Joe Biden and the Onion Joe Biden converge:

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You may try to resist this baby tree kangaroo, but your efforts are futile.