How we got to Ceres
NASA’s Dawn spacecraft recently reached the orbit of Ceres, a dwarf planet and the largest object in the asteroid belt. Read more about the journey here.
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Astronomy
Science behind the scenes
Jerry Zucker! Natalie Portman! Arthur C. Clarke! My article about the Science & Entertainment Exchange is now up at PNAS.
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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 them. Instead, these tiny, one-celled germs are content to hunker down in very old clay, for a very long time, eating just enough to stay alive. “These organisms are so different from anything we
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Are we alone?
If aliens ever sent us a message, scientists hope to pick it up in a remote part of northern California. There, in a clearing nestled amid the volcanoes of the Cascade Range, 42 radio dishes point together at the sky. The dishes, each 20 feet across, form a single, giant scientific instrument called
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 self-perpetuate, forming many smaller pieces that are even more of a problem.I wrote this article for Physics World about the latest ideas about how to bring down the trash.
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Worlds beyond the solar system
Once upon a time — about 20 years ago — kids in school learned about nine planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The Nine orbited the sun, and they were the only planets that mattered. Any others existed in the imagination of children or in science fiction books and movies.
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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 atmosphere, there’s no chance of rain. But hundreds of times each year, small space rocks smash into the lunar surface, flashing brightly enough to be seen from Earth. Read more at Science News for Kids.
Mapping the invisible
Most maps show places you can visit and how to get there. Most maps, however, were not made by astronomers — physicists who study stars and galaxies far, far, far away. At a recent meeting in Texas, three teams of these scientists presented new maps unlike any atlas, globe or street guide. These maps show
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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 unusual light show: two glowing orbs making their way across the sky. Read more about the new Tattooine in this article from Science News for Kids, which came from an original story by Nadia Drake
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Not Seeing Sunspots
The sun’s next cycle is off to a slow start, say researchers at the National Solar Observatory in Tucson. This short news article for kids is adapted from a Science News article by Ron Cowen.
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