When a science fiction author postulates some bizarre astronomical or planetary configuration, hordes of fans (and not a few scientists) will tsk-tsk, saying that such a system could never possibly exist. And then there’s this: A quartet of stars has been discovered in an intimate cosmic dance, swirling around each other within a region about […]
First off, I have to cite a wonderful new blog from the folks that bring us Gizmodo, this new critter being called io9, and it’s all about Science Fiction and things surrounding it. A fabulous read if you are wandering around the house with your iPod Touch tinkering. One of the articles up there now […]
As a Sherlock Holmes fan of long standing, I find this fascinating: JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Researchers in a remote jungle in Indonesia have discovered a giant rat and a tiny possum that are apparently new to science, underscoring the stunning biodiversity of the Southeast Asian nation, scientists said Monday… “The giant rat is about […]
“Space for all people” may sound nice, but who establishes (and enforces) the rule of law? I’m a very simple man, and here’s my simple understanding of property law: say I’m a solar-farmer on the moon, just selling my electrical output to them city-folk across the ridge at the spaceport. Pirates, who’ve mutinied against the […]
As I’m typing this, I’m looking over my shoulder and watching a live HD transmission from the International Space Station (being carried on the Discovery HD Theater channel). Of course, NASA is managing to make it a bit dull (I’m not really interested in what the astronauts eat, at least not for a limited-time HD […]
The Japanese have released video taken from lunar orbit using an HDTV camera. Unfortunately, it’s been released as a Flash movie, and the size is fairly limited (both probably due to bandwidth issues), so it’s not as spectacular as one would like (I personally want this in 720p Quicktime). And since the link was posted […]
April 12th, 1981. I was still in high school in Illinois. I was a young nerdy guy engrossed with all things having to do with space and man’s conquest of the heavens. I vividly recall the launch. It was the 3rd day they had tried to launch, each time there was some technical problem that […]
This posting over at Colony Worlds argues that we’d be better off colonizing Ceres (the asteroid) before we colonize Mars: Ceres however is located within the “mineral field of dreams,” dancing around the sun between 2.5-3 AU (or astronomical units). This places the icy world in the heart of the metal rich zone, the majority […]
Word from the New Scientist that a group of researchers are working up a detailed SETI search on a nearby star that is specifically selected because of it’s similarities to our sun. From New Scientist The star, called HIP 56948, lies a little more than 200 light years from Earth. Its size, mass, temperature, and […]
I will confess I am a lucky man. I was fortunate enough to marry a woman who is in many ways as nerdy as I am, which makes so many aspects of a technical life a lot easier. Thanks to her, we now know of LiveScience.com’s top 10 ways to destroy the Earth! 10. Total […]
