Into the wild: cultivating the next generation of American scientists with Project Aether

At first it was faint -- a blurry smear bisecting the sky above, running roughly north to south and flanked by a second, even more indistinct line to the west. Soon, though, both lines began to change, coalescing and intensifying into bright green streaks impossible to miss and difficult to ignore.

As the night began to expire and the morning matured, those lines grew brighter and brighter and then, without warning, they started to dance. Numbing feet and chilly fingers forgotten, bundled-up onlookers looked skyward to gasp and laugh out loud as the evergreen, spectral curtains far above began to waver and move, blown by a fickle celestial wind. Waves traveled from north to south and back as the luminescent lines above twisted, forming glowing knots of purple and red before slowly spreading out, covering the night sky in green, bright enough that even the snow-colored landscape glowed like an emerald wonderland. Gradually, the motion stopped and slowed, seeming to stall in the sky above, exhausted before -- encore; the heavenly dance began anew.

Gallery: Alaska Project Aether

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Into the wild: cultivating the next generation of American scientists with Project Aether originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.