Maciej Winiarcyzk using more than two thousand digital photographs just over a month ago.

I have never had the privilege of seeing the northern lights in real life, but my sister lives in northern Canada and has told me about them. (She’s a pretty credible source: She even named her daughter Aurora.) After asking her, “What ARE the northern lights,” several times, I now understand the aurora borealis to be a visual effect of the collision of solar wind and magnetospheric charged particles with the thermosphere. Can you see why I had to ask what the northern lights were more than once? The northern lights are most spectacular near the North Pole and during spring and autumn equinoxes. (And, by the way, no. The northern lights are not Santa’s off-season hobby.) But the northern lights, if there are some geomagnetic storms a-brewin’, can be seen closer to home, too, visible occasionally as far south as Chicago or New York.

Anyway, this guy Winiarcyzk is an astronomy enthusiast who lives in Caithness, which is at the tippy top of Scotland. There’s isn’t much light pollution way up there, so it’s a good place for such a sky-minded person to live and enjoy his hobby. Wonderfully, with this time lapse video of the northern lights, we get to enjoy his hobby, too.

Take a look. Have you ever seen anything more lovely occurring in nature? You know, with all this solar wind, magnetospheric particles, thermospheres, and geomagnetic storms, it sure seems like there is a lot more going on in nature than we can readily sense.

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By: Jason Lee

From the standard AA battery to the relatively unknown LR44 battery, everyone everywhere should embrace all things battery operated on February 18, also known as National Battery Day.

The  “battery” can trace its routes to Benjamin Franklin who coined the term. In 1800, another inventor, Alessandro Volta created a steady current for a length of time using zinc and copper plates and brine soaked paper disks. Eventually, this primitive experiment in electricity would lead the way to the batteries we know today.

So don't be negative because Mr. Electric® has some positive reasons to celebrate National Battery Day.

Whether you have four, six or eight cylinders under the hood, chances are you only have one battery. No car or truck can run without it. So when you get in your ride on National Battery Day, take a minute to thank the true workhorse of the vehicle; the battery.

When it comes to handheld and portable electronic devices, not a single one would work if it weren’t for the battery. These devices would do little good for people on the go if they stopped working every time they were unplugged from the wall. Thankfully, batteries that drain slowly over time allow for us to be portable and still be connected to the digital world. All of this is made possible by the battery.

Battery operated drills and saws have made working at the construction site or doing home renovations a breeze. Workers can cut boards and build for hours before simply changing out the batteries. Once the workday is done, workers can charge the batteries over night and start again the next morning. With the advent of cordless tools, tripping hazards can be avoided. Blown fuses and tripped breakers are a thing of the past, all thanks to the battery.

On February 18, go out into the world with a positive attitude and change those who are negative around you by reminding them of everything the battery does on a daily basis. Who knows, doing it may give you a charge!