I’m sometimes asked what’s the one thing I wish people would understand better about the Universe. My answer is always the same: scale. We humans have a miserable sense of just how big space is, and I’ve spent a lot of time over the years working out ways to express it better.

Most people don’t really grasp just how far away the Moon is, and it’s the closest astronomical object in the sky! So I’m glad this video came out, and is actually getting spread around the web a bit:

When I see something like this, my first reaction is: I’d better check that math. So, first question: is the basketball/tennis ball size ratio the same as for the Earth/Moon? IN other words, if the Earth is a basketball, does a tennis ball get the size of the Moon right?

The Earth is 12,740 km (7900 miles) across, and the Moon 3474 km (2150 miles) in diameter, for a ratio of 3.7.

A standard NBA basketball is 24 cm (9.4 inches) in diameter, and a tennis ball 6.7 cm (2.6 inches), for a ratio of 3.6. Pretty good! I’ll have to remember that; it’s pretty useful.

So how far away ...

Click here to view the embedded video.

I just love to watch the R-Bar Pitch Maneuver, it’s just so graceful.

As far as I know the heat shield inspection goes, it’s all good, at least nothing glaring.  Photo analysis is continuing on the images taken during the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (aka: R-bar Pitch Maneuver).

Today’s activities will include: Cargo transfer and getting ready for the first spacewalk which will come tomorrow.  Steve Bowen and  Alvin Drew will be going over the procedures and tools for the spacewalk during which a power extension cable will be installed from Unity to  Tranquility, moving a failed pump modules from the payload attachment bracket to an external stowage platform, installing a wedge for camera post 3 (a wedge can be thought of as a mounting base for the camera) and installation of a starboard crew equipment and translation aid cart rail stubs.

Part of the preparation for the spacewalk will require Bowen and Drew camp out in the Quest airlock to reduce the nitrogen levels in their blood to reduce the possibility of getting the “bends”.

OK, this made me laugh.

I remember seeing E.T. in the theater when it came out. Just before it was released, I was at a scifi con in DC and talking with a guy who had just been to a sneak peek. He was, ah, enthused.

"E.T. makes Yoda look like a puppet!" he kept saying.

Did I say this issue was heating up, or what?

A series on the environmental risks of fracking has just begun in the Times; the first installment is here. It focuses on a less discussed issue than flammable tap water–so central to Gasland–although one wonders if a piece on that topic is still forthcoming from the Times.

In any case, the current article is about wastewater from the fracking process, which apparently contains lots of radioactive material and is being sent to water treatment plants which (the piece claims) can’t handle that material, or adequately remove it before it ends up in waterways.

If what the Times says is true, this is the sort of expose that is going to cause an uproar. The central paragraphs from the piece:

With hydrofracking, a well can produce over a million gallons of wastewater that is often laced with highly corrosive salts, carcinogens like benzene and radioactive elements like radium, all of which can occur naturally thousands of feet underground. Other carcinogenic materials can be added to the wastewater by the chemicals used in the hydrofracking itself.

While the existence of the toxic wastes has been reported, thousands of internal documents obtained by The New York Times from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.

The documents reveal that the wastewater, which is sometimes hauled to sewage plants not designed to treat it and then discharged into rivers that supply drinking water, contains radioactivity at levels higher than previously known, and far higher than the level that federal regulators say is safe for these treatment plants to handle.

Other documents and interviews show that many E.P.A. scientists are alarmed, warning that the drilling waste is a threat to drinking water in Pennsylvania. Their concern is based partly on a 2009 study, never made public, written by an E.P.A. consultant who concluded that some sewage treatment plants were incapable of removing certain drilling waste contaminants and were probably violating the law.

The Times also found never-reported studies by the E.P.A. and a confidential study by the drilling industry that all concluded that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be fully diluted in rivers and other waterways.

But the E.P.A. has not intervened. In fact, federal and state regulators are allowing most sewage treatment plants that accept drilling waste not to test for radioactivity. And most drinking-water intake plants downstream from those sewage treatment plants in Pennsylvania, with the blessing of regulators, have not tested for radioactivity since before 2006, even though the drilling boom began in 2008.

In other words, there is no way of guaranteeing that the drinking water taken in by all these plants is safe.

You can read the full expose here.

In the past half decade or more, I’ve covered a lot of science fights–related to vaccines, the environment, evolution, reproductive health, and many other topics. They all have a lot of parallels, things in common. One of thoses is that, at a certain point, due to political or cultural rather than scientific events, they tend to escalate.

At that point, like an intensification of artillery fire, the “scientific” claims really start flying fast and furious.

Right now, that’s happening with the issue of “fracking,” or hydraulic fracturing. The precipitating event is clear: Josh Fox’s documentary Gasland, which is up for an Oscar tomorrow night.

As the film has risen in prominence, there have been a bevy of scientific counterclaims to it from industry, and scientific counter-counterclaims to those from Fox.

One central issue: Can all the complaints being made by homeowners living near drilling sites, that suddenly they have contaminated water (which sometimes even catches on fire), be explained away somehow? Can these occurrences be natural? Coincidental? Or does this anecdotal evidence already count as something stronger–even if it is pretty hard to document in many cases precisely what is in the water, or to prove that industry is responsible for it being there?

It seems to me that what’s missing, amid this furious science squabbling, is an attempt to step back and put it all in context so that one can judge where the burden of proof lies, how much we can reasonably believe at the current point in time, and how much th e remaining uncertainty cuts in critics’ favor, rather than industry’s. Huh. Maybe we have to wait for the EPA to release its comprehensive study on fracking and drinking water contamination–expected in 2014, if the agency still has a budget by then. Or, maybe we don’t.

What do readers think?

UPDATE:  SOLVED by George at 1:15 CDT

We’re deep into personalities today, I’m telling you.  I have a riddle for you about a person, and I KNOW you’ve heard of this one!

If you haven’t solved a riddle yet this cycle, you better hop on it ’cause Tom and I are getting ready to run another bonus riddle.  We already have a cool prize ready to send to your house, so get your name on the list if it isn’t there already.  You know who you are…

Okay, let’s riddle:

This cool image by Andrew Dunn, 110504. http://www.andrewdunnphoto.com - copyright, all rights reserved

Today’s answer was a living person in the real world.

He (yes, it’s a “he”) and Harry Potter have something interesting in common.

As he was frustrated with contemporary writers predicting the End Of The World As We Know It (sound familiar?), he did a study of the Bible and concluded that the world could end no sooner than 2060 AD.  This was a published work.

Image by David Bleasdale

Do you believe in Biblical prophesy?  This person did.  In fact, he considered himself to be specially chosen by God to interpret scripture.

He spent a lot of time working on something which would have resulted in his public execution, by hanging, had it been known.

He enjoyed a very high social status during his lifetime.

Another excellent image by Andrew Dunn, http://www.andrewdunnphoto.com, copyright

This fellow is claimed to be a member in good standing of a well-known ludibrium.  Yes, you’ve heard of it.

The most popular, well-known anecdote about this person – the thing everybody “knows” about him -  is more than likely not true.

He is considered by many to be one of the most influential persons who ever lived.  History holds him in very high esteem.

A famous work by Canaletto, 1749. You recognize it, don't you?

I think that wraps it up.  Now, all you people who have been keeping quiet because “you never get these things” need to jump right in and play.  Who cares if you get the answer wrong?  Nobody is going to ridicule you.  Besides, you’ll probably get the answer right!  All you riddle champions who just like to solve the riddle, but you’re already on the list, can email your guess to me.  I’ll post in the comments if you solve it (like Rob and Roger do a lot).

No spiders today, just a snicker for you.

When Discovery thundered into space on Thursday afternoon, I was in an airplane heading to Florida to visit family. I was hoping I might be able to see it, but my timing was off and it was already in orbit before I was close enough to see it.

But not everyone was so unfortunate! YouTube user NeilMonday got a fantastic view:

Set the resolution to 720p for the best view of it. Wow. I’m not sure how far away the plane was from the launch, but I’m guessing it was over 100 km (60 miles). There’s usually a 65 km (40 mile) no-fly zone around the launch area, and I imagine planes keep well back even from that*.

If you want to see a Shuttle go up, you have two more chances; Endeavour in April and Atlantis in June. I’ve seen a launch and it’s amazing, but you can also read what my pal Nicole Garvanarflaguten said about seeing this launch.

If you get a chance to see one of the last two launches, take it.

Tip o’ the nose cone to Stuart at AstronomyBlog.

* I love the Captain’s announcement near the beginning: ...

The Department of Commerce has released an Inspector General’s report on the involvement of its scientists (e.g., scientists in NOAA) in “ClimateGate”–and once again, it’s a vindication: “In our review of the CRU emails, we did not find any evidence that NOAA inappropriately manipulated data comprising the GHCN-M dataset [maintained by the National Climatic Data Center] or failed to adhere to appropriate peer review procedures.”

There’s no fire here, although of course partisans will seize upon a few wisps of smoke. You see, the IG did look more closely at 10 emails, to “clarify” that nothing had been done wrong. And it does appear that there may have been an inadequate response to a FOIA request at one point; and there are some issues raised about a contract. However, none of this stuff remotely rises to the level of undermining the integrity of global climate science, which is of course what “Climategate” was allegedly all about.

There’s also the following:

This email, dated February 19,2007, captioned “Fwd: Marooned?” contained an inappropriate image which NCDC’s Chief Scientist forwarded to the Director of the CRU. The image depicts superimposed photographs of several individuals involved in the debate over global warming as characters from the television program Gilligan’s Island, stranded on a melting ice cap at the North Pole or floating nearby in the ocean. In the course of our inquiry, we learned that another NOAA scientist had created the image during official business hours, using government computer equipment.

Both the Chief Scientist and the creator of the image told us it was meant to bring some levity to the constant criticism that they and their fellow climate scientists were facing at the time from “climate skeptics.” Notwithstanding their rationale, such an image could foster an adverse appearance about the scientists’ objectivity, and at least one internet blog questioned the propriety of the image. While none of the senior NOAA officials we interviewed said they were aware of the referenced email and the attached picture before we interviewed them, Dr. Lubchenco told us that “it was in bad taste.” According to NOAA, both scientists, who acknowledged that the image was inappropriate, have since been counseled by their respective superiors.

Ever been in an office building, like, anywhere? People make cartoons and posters and funny messages related to their work, and post them on walls and doors. Apparently, sometimes they also email them. Not a very good idea on such a politicized topic, and Lubchenco’s rebuke seems appropriate, as does the “counseled by superiors” bit…but, if that’s the worst climate scientists have done, I guess the only upshot of “ClimateGate” remains that old, old refrain–scientists are people, too.

Here at Chez BA we have two dogs and a cat. They get along, kinda. There’s a lot of sniffing followed by swatting, for example, and the occasional spirited if short-lived chase.

But there is also harmony. Sometimes. It’s common for the animals to fall asleep together on the couch, and it’s usually extremely cute. I saw Canis Major and Leo (not their real names) napping on the couch recently, and thought what a sweet picture that would make. But when I took the shot…

This explains a lot of things, including the worried look on Canis Major’s face, and the recurring red marks on my arms.

Related posts:

- CatIRday
- Caturday night’s all right for fighting: Part 2
- Big Caturday
- I toad you it’s Caturday

The sun today. Click for larger. Credit as annotated.

The sunspot cycle isn’t as intense as it was predicted to be but that’s not to say there isn’t any activity.

Northern and southern latitudes could see displays of the aurora for the next three days especially today.

Today’s  forecast is for the geomagnetic field to be active and there is a chance for isolated minor storm periods.  If we do reach minor storm levels we will see auroral activity.  Activity will subside over the following two days.

I did hear some warnings on the tube, yes well you know, end of the world stuff, gah, it gets old.  Anyways they did mention power grid and GPS failures.  Could those happen?  Well sure they could but I’d not lose too much sleep over it with this forecast. Now if the forecast is wrong and activity is more intense, well never say never.

The GPS thing is kind of interesting, who knows? I would think chances of untoward consequences surely increase at polar latitudes but at my 43 north and towards the equator, meh, I’m not so sure.

If you have clear skies go out and see if you can see the northern or southern lights.

Check this graph, if the top graph shows values of 5 or greater (bar will be red) and if you have clear skies go out and see if you can see the northern or southern lights.  If that top graph shows values greater than 7 (bar will be purple) then certainly there is a possibility of communications and power disruptions but you will have a glorious display!

New Territory on comet Tempel 1. Click for larger. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Maryland/Cornell

The pictures are coming in.  This particular one (NASA’s description is below) shows new territory not before seen.

There are images of the impact site although they are a bit fuzzy.  They show the impact point to be 150 meters (500 ft) in diameter with (apparently) a little pile in the middle where material fell back in.  It’s early in the process so we have to be patient, I have no doubt we will see enhanced images after a while.

In the mean time you can see what pictures are here so far by visiting the Stardust Image Gallery.

About the image above:

This image obtained by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft shows a side of the nucleus of comet Tempel 1 that has never been seen before. In the image, three terraces of different elevations are visible, with dark, banded scarps, or slopes, separating them. The widest of the banded slopes is about 2 kilometers (1 mile). The lowest terrace has two circular features that are about 150 meters (500 feet) in diameter.

An inset on the right shows a closer view.

This image was taken on February 14, 2011, at 8:39:21 p.m. PST. The spatial resolution is about 15 meters (50 feet) per pixel.

NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft visited this same comet in July 2005 and also observed the presence of layers on the other side of the comet.

This image shows at least 90 percent new territory.

I wanted to share an opportunity with you if you are around the Hayden Planetarium next Tuesday (the 22^nd).  I’d love to see it myself as it promises to be a good show.

Insights from the Hubble Telescope with Jackie Faherty

Tuesday, February 22, 6:30 pm

Hayden Planetarium, Space Theater

$15 Adults ($13.50 Members, students, senior citizens)

Ever wonder what astronomers study with the Hubble Space Telescope? In this program, Jackie Faherty will explore some of Hubble’s most exciting results through the 3D datasets available in the Hayden Planetarium’s Digital Universe, the world’s most complete atlas of the cosmos.

Here’s more information.

Are you interested in Earth-like exoplanets?  If so, Kepler is for you.  The mission was designed to continuously monitor around 145,000 main sequence stars at a time, watching for periodic dips in brightness that indicate a planet in transiting.  Transiting is when the planet passes across your line of sight to the star in its orbit.  It blocks a bit of the star’s light, causing a tiny, tiny dip in brightness which can be detected and analyzed.  Based on information obtained studying the star as the planet transits, scientists can tell a lot about the planet.

NASA/Ames/JPL-CalTech

Kepler is able to zero in on Earth-sized planets, which will dip the parent star’s apparent magnitude by 0.01%.  So far, Kepler has found 68 Earth-sized planetary candidates, and 54 candidates in the parent star’s habitable zone.  Because of Kepler’s information, scientists estimate that 6% of all stars have Earth-like candidates.

Artists conception of red dwarf star Gliese 581 - NASA/ESO

Six percent.  If that doesn’t light your fire, I don’t know what to tell you.  Let’s pretend there are only one million stars in the Milky Way Galaxy.  We know there are lot more than a million, but let’s stick with that number for now.  Okay, one million stars.  Six percent of those are Earth-like candidates.  That would mean there are 60,000 possible Earths out there.  Now, the real Milky Way Galaxy contains between 200 and 400 BILLION stars.  The numbers starting to gang up on you?

Isn’t that exciting?  Doesn’t that flip your switch?

Working on it! Kepler's first five planets -- NASA/ESA/JPL/David Koch, Alan Gould, Edna DeVore

Kepler is not in orbit around the Earth; it trails the Earth in its orbit around the Sun.  That way, the Earth doesn’t get in the way of the stars Kepler is viewing.  It was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida March 7, 2009.  It was successfully placed in orbit and popped its cover April 7, 2009.  Kepler’s first light images were taken the next day.

Painting by Jon Lomberg/NASA

Kepler downloads bout 90 to 100 gigabits of data per month.  Remember your computer science terms; a gigabit (Gbit) is 10(9) bits, or 1,000,000,000 bits.  A byte is 8 bits, and 1 Gbit is equal to 125 megabytes.  A couple of months of that would blow your laptop right out of the water.

You can join Kepler, by the way, and link your computer into the hunt for exoplanets.  Don’t worry, they won’t blast your laptop into the ozone.  The information they give you is modified for your computer.  The site will set you up and show you how to hunt for planets, and you, yes YOU!, can discover an exoplanet.

Zooniverse Home – I dare you!

Kepler Scientific Webpage

Discovery News – Exoplanet Bonanza

It doesn't look like much yet but the comet is still 42 hours out as of this picture. Click for larger, um if you want LOL. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

It really is getting close the StardustNext/Tempel1 encounter.  First thing I want to see is how big that hole we blasted into the comet really is with decent pictures that is.  I know, be patient Tom.  I will put pictures up Wednesday but you can also find links below to watch streaming video.

Hey don’t laugh, this is delightful and I’ve been through a very unexpectedly BAD week.  I want to thank Marian for dropping everything to help me out here, Marian you’re the best: MUAAAAH!

Here’s the scoop we have so far from NASA:

PASADENA, Calif. — As of today, Feb. 14, at 9:21 a.m. PST (12:21 p.m. EST), NASA’s Stardust-NExT mission spacecraft is within a quarter-million miles (402,336 kilometers) of its quarry, comet Tempel 1, which it will fly by tonight. The spacecraft is cutting the distance with the comet at a rate of about 10.9 kilometers per second (6.77 miles per second or 24,000 mph).

The flyby of Tempel 1 will give scientists an opportunity to look for changes on the comet’s surface since it was visited by NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft in July 2005. Since then, Tempel 1 has completed one orbit of the sun, and scientists are looking forward to discovering any differences in the comet.

The closest approach is expected tonight at approximately 8:40 p.m. PST (11:40 p.m. EST).

During the encounter phase, the spacecraft will carry out many important milestones in short order and automatically, as the spacecraft is too far away to receive timely updates from Earth. These milestones include turning the spacecraft to point its protective shields between it and the anticipated direction from which cometary particles would approach. Another milestone will occur at about four minutes to closest approach, when the spacecraft will begin science imaging of the comet’s nucleus.

The nominal imaging sequence will run for about eight minutes. The spacecraft’s onboard memory is limited to 72 high-resolution images, so the imaging will be most closely spaced around the time of closest approach for best-resolution coverage of Tempel 1′s nucleus. At the time of closest encounter, the spacecraft is expected to be approximately 200 kilometers (124 miles) from the comet’s nucleus.

The mission team expects to begin receiving images on the ground starting at around midnight PST (3 a.m. on Feb. 15 EST). Transmission of each image will take about 15 minutes. It will take about 10 hours to complete the transmission of all images and science data aboard the spacecraft.

Live coverage on NASA TV and via the Internet begins at 8:30 p.m. PST (11:30 p.m. EST) from mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Coverage also will include segments from the Lockheed Martin Space System’s mission support area in Denver. A post-flyby news conference is planned on Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST).

Matching in sexual experience for married, cohabitating, and dating couples.

“The present study examined heterosexual romantic partners’ number of intercourse partners prior to the initiation of their relationship to determine if a significant positive correlation (matching) occurred between partners, and if this matching was associated with their level of love, satisfaction with, and commitment to the relationship. One hundred and six couples who were dating, cohabitating, or married participated in this study. Results indicated that, with the exception of cohabitating couples, romantic partners showed a significant level of matching in the prior number of intercourse partners. Further, among the married couples, a higher discrepancy between men’s and women’s number of previous intercourse partners was related to lower levels of love, satisfaction, and commitment in the relationship.”

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Photo: flickr/egevad

Related content:
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Interracial relationships: solved!
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Will your love last? This mathematical model may hold the answer…
Discoblog: NCBI ROFL: Why Facebook is ruining your marriage.

WTF is NCBI ROFL? Read our FAQ!

From the text of John Holdren’s recent congressional testimony on the science budget (also available here):

All told, this Budget proposes $66.8 billion for civilian research and development, an increase of $4.1 billion or 6.5 percent over the 2010 funding level in this category. But the Administration is committed to reducing the deficit even as we prime the pump of discovery and innovation. Accordingly, our proposed investments in R&D, STEM education, and infrastructure fit within an overall non-security discretionary budget that would be frozen at 2010 levels for the second year in a row. The Budget reflects strategic decisions to focus resources on those areas where the payoff for the American people is likely to be highest.

This is similar to what I argued with Meryl Comer in the Los Angeles Times in December–tough economic times are the times to invest in science, not cut it.

Holdren concludes:

Let me reiterate, in closing, the guiding principle underlying this Budget: America’s strength, prosperity, and global leadership depend directly on the investments we’re willing to make in R&D, in STEM education, and in infrastructure.

Investments in these domains are the ultimate act of hope, the source of the most important legacy we can leave. Only by sustaining them can we assure future generations of Americans a society and place in the world worthy of the history of this great Nation, which has been building its prosperity and global leadership on a foundation of science, technology, and innovation since the days of Jefferson and Franklin.

In hard times, you don’t give up on vision. You knuckle down, sure, but you also look ahead. (Meanwhile, Paul Krugman reminds us today that the budget debate is deeply mis-aligned because we’re so focused on cutting the smallest part of the budget, when the real issues are healthcare costs and tax revenue.)

And now for some Friday eye candy.

One of the finest visual treats of the year comes when the National Science Foundation and its partners reveal the winners of the International Science and Engineering Visualization Challenge, as they have this week in the journal Science. The illustration you see above is HIV. Created by Ivan Konstantinov and colleagues, the 3D model of the virus graced the cover of Nature Medicine last year.

The model contains 17 different viral and cellular proteins and the membrane incorporates 160 thousand lipid molecules, of 8 different types, in the same proportions as in an actual HIV particle. It denotes the parts encoded by the virus’s own genome in orange, while grey shades indicate structures taken into the virus when it interacts with a human cell. To create the visualisation, the team consulted over 100 articles on HIV from leading science journals and talked to experts in the field. [New Scientist]

The other winners, which you can check out at Science’s site, include the wide world of fungi, colliding quasars, and (my favorite) the hairs of a ...

The next time you enjoy the sight of a hummingbird in a garden, you might want to look twice–because it could be the government’s new avian-inspired drone. Dubbed “Nano Hummingbird,” this camera-toting, remote-controlled surveillance tool is the latest gadget to fly out the doors of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency).

Commissioned by the Pentagon in 2006 and designed by AeroVironment, this bird-drone’s abilities match its $4 million price tag: It flies forward, backward, and sideways, and it can even hover in mid-air. That’s not bad for a battery-powered, 6.5-inch long bundle of communication systems and motors that weighs in at two-thirds of an ounce. “We’ve achieved what our customer asked us to,” AeroVironment Vice President Steve Gitlin told TIME Magazine. But with a maximum speed of 11 miles per hour, natural hummingbirds can fly circles around this robot.

DARPA hopes Nano Hummingbird could eventually be used as an extra eye on the battlefield.

Video shows the drone flying outside and in, successfully maneuvering through a doorway. AeroVironment says it has reached “a technical milestone never before achieved — controlled precision hovering and fast-forward flight of a two-wing, flapping wing aircraft that carries its own energy ...

On March 17, just a month from now, NASA’s MESSENGER probe is scheduled to enter orbit around Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system. No other mission from Earth has ever done this, and for the first time we’ll get high-resolution maps of the entire globe.

On its way down, the spacecraft was commanded to turn around and look outward, toward space. It took a series of images of what it saw… this astonishing family portrait of the solar system:

Click it to ensolarsystemate it and see it in more detail. When you do you’ll see the five classical planets in our system, as well as the Earth and Moon. Uranus and Neptune are there, but too faint to see, unfortunately, but still, this is an interesting picture. In November 2010, when these pictures were taken, Mercury was still nothing more than a dot. In fact, all the planets as barely more than dots, a reminder that this probe is well away from home and nowhere near any solid ground.

I like very much the images of Venus and the ...

It turns out that the news reporter who suddenly began speaking gibberish as she covered the Grammy Awards wasn’t suffering from a stroke–doctors conclude that a migraine is to blame.

Serene Branson, a reporter for KCBS-TV, began speaking incoherently during her coverage of the annual music awards ceremony. “As soon as I opened my mouth I knew something was wrong,” Branson told MSNBC. “I was having trouble remembering the word for Grammy…. I knew what I wanted to say but I didn’t have the words to say it.”

Many internet viewers thought she was stricken by an on-air stroke, but physicians from the University of California at Los Angeles scanned her head and tested her blood, and discovered that she was simply the victim of a migraine. It all started with a strong headache, Branson told MSNBC, but then it escalated:

“At around 10 o’clock that night I was sitting in the live truck with my field producer and the photographer and I was starting to look at some of my notes,” she said. “I started to think, the words on the page are blurry and I could notice that my thoughts ...