Science behind the scenes
Jerry Zucker! Natalie Portman! Arthur C. Clarke! My article about the Science & Entertainment Exchange is now up at…
Category: Astronomy
Living Long Beneath the Sea
In the muck beneath the ocean floor, there’s something alive. Lots of somethings. But don’t worry: You’ll never see…
Are we alone?
If aliens ever sent us a message, scientists hope to pick it up in a remote part of northern…
Bringing down the trash
The density of junk orbiting the Earth is at or near a critical value beyond which this man-made debris will…
Worlds beyond the solar system
Once upon a time — about 20 years ago — kids in school learned about nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth,…
Moon twinkles
If you ever travel to the moon, don’t forget to pack a heavy-duty umbrella. It’s not for downpours: With no…
Mapping the invisible
Most maps show places you can visit and how to get there. Most maps, however, were not made by astronomers…
Double sunsets on a distant world
If you were stranded on a recently discovered planet called Kepler-16b and looked up during the day, you’d see an…
Not Seeing Sunspots
The sun's next cycle is off to a slow start, say researchers at the National Solar Observatory in Tucson. This…
End of an Era
I wrote about the end of the space shuttle program for Science News for Kids. Here's the whole story.