• Video: The Risk of Self-Replicating Space Probes

    Earlier this month Cool Worlds Labs posted a video titled “Why Technological Civilizations Might Be Insanely Rare” that discusses the idea of self-replicating space probes. The video starts with the assumption that self-replicating space probes, which have been discussed over the past 50 years, are something we should be able to achieve in the next…

  • Pic of the Week: The Heart of Our Galaxy

    This week’s image is from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid space telescope. It shows the center of the Milky Way Galaxy with its more than 60 million stars. Here is more from ESA pertaining to what you are seeing above: The galactic bulge – the central region of our galaxy – is a vast,…

  • Audit Report: NASA Launch Facilities in Need of Repair and Sustainable Financing

    First, let’s note the good news. NASA has more and more launches on its current launch pads (see figure above). Now, the bad news. NASA is running out of functioning launch pads. That’s the story from NASA’s Office of Inspector General in its latest audit report, NASA’s Launch Infrastructure. The June 22nd audit report concludes…

  • Study Findings: Isotopic Evidence for a Cold and Distant Origin of 3I/ATLAS

    Nature abstract of study findings: Interstellar objects provide the only directly observable samples of icy planetesimals formed around other stars, and can therefore provide insight into the diversity of physical and chemical conditions occurring during exoplanet formation. Here we report isotopic measurements of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, which reveal an elemental composition unlike any Solar System body. The…

  • Space Stories: A New Player in the Race for Mars, Swarming Exoplanet Seekers, and a Over-sized Pink Exoplanet

    Here are some recent space-related stories. —Techcrunch: “NASA Picks Eric Schmidt’s Rocket Company for Mars Mission, Setting Up a Race with SpaceX“ Relativity Space — a rocket maker acquired by former Google executive chair Eric Schmidt last year after stumbling on the path to orbit — might just beat SpaceX to Mars. On Tuesday, NASA said…

  • Happy Summer Solstice!

  • Space Quote: Every Day is Disclosure Day

    “There’s no effort to keep it secret. If we [get] a signal, it’s going to be out there. The next step is transparency.” -Statement by Dr. Carol Oliver, as quoted in a Scientific American article titled, “What Disclosure Day Gets Wrong About the Search for Aliens.” Dr. Oliver is a professor of science communication and…

  • Twisted White House Humor Involving Aliens

    The same White House that promised to share information on UFOs and potential alien visits is now spreading disinformation on non-citizens. Just go to aliens.gov and check it our for yourself. When you go to the site you are hit with language like this: Millions arrived under the cover of darkness and embedded themselves directly…

  • Pic of the Week: Galaxy M83

    This week’s image is from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. It shows galaxy Messier 83 (M83), which is located approximately 15 million light-years from Earth. It is part of a study analyzing Chandra data from 2000 to 2014. NASA provides more information on a recent study involving supernova remnants being studied by astronomers: In the composite image,…

  • The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Is Taking Names

    If you want to be part of a NASA mission, you have until July 12th to get your name to NASA so it can be added to the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. All of the submitted names will be uploaded to an secure digital card that will be attached to the space telescope. These…