• Space Stories: James Webb’s Partner, the Big Bang Black Holes, and Green Energy on the Red Planet

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —Futurism: “NASA Sending Adorable Little Buddy to Hang Out Next to the James Webb“ The space agency recently selected a toaster-sized cubesat that will become the much bigger telescope’s tiny, adorable “sidekick,” according to a statement. NASA chose the $8.5 million space mission, called the “Monitoring Activity from Nearby sTars…

  • Space Quote: A Space Detente with China?

    “With geopolitical tensions between Washington and Beijing extending into space, it is only to be expected that policymakers are looking back to the Cold War for helpful lessons. Unfortunately, it is far too easy to learn the wrong lessons from space cooperation during and immediately after the Cold War. Certainly, space cooperation was not a…

  • Do We Need to Fear Lunar Organisms?

    If we had a real chance of being harmed by life on the lunar surface, Covid 19 would be child’s play. The New York Times has an article, “Cosmic Luck: NASA’s Apollo 11 Moon Quarantine Broke Down,” indicates we were not really ready for any potential contamination during the Apollo program. The newspaper cites a…

  • Podcast: Richard Dawkins Joins the Podcast Ranks

    Stay tuned for a new podcast from British evolutionary biologist and author Richard Dawkins. It is called The Poetry of Reality, and can be found here and elsewhere. The 2-minute preview clip sounds interesting as he discusses humans colonizing a new planet. This is the write-up accompanying the new podcast: The Poetry of Reality is…

  • Where is This? June 9, 2023 Quiz

    Take a look at the image above. Can you determine where this image originated? Take a guess and then check your answer by going to the “Where is This? The Answer Sheet” page.

  • Pic of the Week: The Ongoing Perseverance Rover Mission

    This week’s image comes from NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance as it explores the to Jezero Crater. The photo was posted last month. It has been a little while since we directly our attention at the Red Planet. The image shows what may be the result of a fast-moving river some time in the past. In…

  • Space Quote: The Great Filter at Work?

    “Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.” -Statement by artificial intelligence (AI) experts and public figures in a “Statement on AI Risk” from the Center for AI Safety. This followed an earlier open letter back in March from other AI leaders that…

  • Space Stories: Habitable Zone Planets, Satellite Interference, and Extraterrestrial Communication

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —ScienceDaily: “One-third of Galaxy’s Most Common Planets Could be in Habitable Zone“ In a new analysis based on the latest telescope data, University of Florida astronomers have discovered that two-thirds of the planets around these ubiquitous small stars could be roasted by these tidal extremes, sterilizing them. But that…

  • Podcast: A Conversation with William Shatner

    WTF Podcast host Marc Maron interviewed William Shatner recently. Overall, it was a fun conversation with Mr. Shatner discussing his early acting career, his family, his flight into space on Blue Origin, his various ongoing projects, and more. In terms of projects, Mr. Shatner mentioned a variety of interests, including horse shows, television series, and…

  • A Poem for Europa

    U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limon was asked by NASA to write a poem for the upcoming Europa Clipper mission. Her new poem, “In Praise of Mystery: a Poem for Europa,” premiered late last week in Washington, DC. Here is the poem from the Library of Congress (and you can also hear it in the poet’s voice):…