Now that Trudeau has agreed to help out, if anything goes wrong we can always “Blame Canada!”
No, no, it’s a joke, alright, eh. Sorry, sorry.
Gateway now includes Canada, eh
April 3, 2019
Water moves on the Moon — well, molecules do, at any rate
March 13, 2019
NASA and other scientific groups have discussed the potential of using the Moon as a sort of jumping-off point for missions deeper into space. If water could be collected on the Moon it could prove to be a great resource for manned missions headed deeper into the solar system.
Interesting, but I have a feeling that Lunar Base occupants will need slightly more than a few “bouncing” molecules to drink (or to create hydrogen for rocket fuel or colony energy needs).
bgr.com/2019/03/11/water-on-the-moon-surface-lunar-regolith/
Black holes, Hawking radiation, and quantum physics: Feeling dense yet?
March 8, 2019
Modern physics dictates that, after being consumed, information about this matter should be forever lost to the universe. But a new experiment suggests that there might be a way to use quantum mechanics to gain some insight into the interior of a black hole.
Black hole sun / won’t you come / to drive away the rain? 🎶
Why bother looking for aliens? Because we’re probably not all that smart
March 5, 2019
[A]n obvious obstacle to identifying our neighbors is the tendency to limit our imagination to what we already know. But this should not necessarily remain the case in the future.
Frankly, I think it’s high time that somebody invent the warp drive so that the Vulcans will finally notice us.
blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/are-we-really-the-smartest-kid-on-the-cosmic-block/
Who wants a hotel on Mars??
February 25, 2019
Seek and ye shall find!
Ah, a place to crash on Mars.
No, not a lander. A hotel.
I won’t mention the web site where this automated (probably Google) ad popped up.
But they often have extreme -ly interesting tech -nology information.
Just in time for spring break, too!
Barnard’s Star has a Hoth. No Tauntauns, though.
February 12, 2019
In their presentation, the researchers jokingly compared the planet to Hoth – the icy planet made famous in one of the “Star Wars” movies, when Luke Skywalker’s steed (a fictional lizard species called a Tauntaun) dies and he must stay warm by burrowing into its intestines.
Yay, science. And only six light years away!
Which, since Alpha Centauri at four light years away only takes 137,000 years to get to, would only take…er…just a few ten thousand more years…Hmm…
So when do we invent warp drives?
www.seeker.com/space/newly-found-planet-could-host-primitive-life-study-suggest
Planet Nine may not be a planet? Um. Right.
February 2, 2019
A new paper suggests that the so-called “Planet Nine” – thought responsible for the screwy orbits of Trans-Neptune objects – might actually be a really big disc.
Um. Yeah. Okay.
How about we actually focus on technology that will allow us to construct spaceships so we can go out that far in person to find out? Theoretical astrophysics is all fine and dandy, but how does this help our species expand out into space?
The Stainless Steel Musk Strikes Again!
January 23, 2019
He described the concept as a “stainless-steel sandwich” that can “bleed water…fuel” through tiny holes on its surface to keep it cool as it enters the Martian atmosphere at breakneck speeds.
Not sure, but I don’t think there are a lot of people who want to travel to Mars inside a sandwich…
www.inverse.com/article/52605-starship-spacex-elon-musk-stainless-steel
From dust to dust — asteroid, that is
January 16, 2019
What came before the planets? What are the origins of life? And how much of a threat do asteroids pose to life on Earth today?
There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that asteroids have (or used to have) hydrocarbons. If they have amino acids and nucleic acids…
Hmm. Sounds like a science fiction story based on science…
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/asteroid-sample-missions-hayabusa2-ryugu-osiris-rex-bennu?tgt=nr
The Ultima Thule Awakens! (Well, OK, New Horizons Awakens, Fine…)
December 31, 2018
It’s been a long 13 years.
Remember New Horizons? The Little Probe That Could?
No?
You know, the photos of Pluto, Formerly Known As the Ninth Planet?
Doesn’t ring a bell?
Hmpf. Go read about about it.
Anyway, by sheer chance, New Horizons happens to be close enough to grab some pictures of an object in the Kuiper Belt (which looks like KEW-per or KWEE-per but is actually pronounced KAI-per and is completely unrelated to former SF Giants player and current announcer Duane).
Ever wanted to see a peanut-shaped tiny rock (or rocks)
Only half a day left!
Read all about it, uh, pretty much anywhere online, really:
M Thomas Apple Author Page 