Author Archives: Brian H. Gill

About Brian H. Gill

I was born in 1951. I'm a husband, father and grandfather. One of the kids graduated from college in December, 2008, and is helping her husband run businesses and raise my granddaughter; another is a cartoonist and artist; #3 daughter is a writer; my son is developing a digital game with #3 and #1 daughters. I'm also a writer and artist.

TRAPPIST-1 b Measured by Webb: Hot, Airless 0 (0)

The TRAPPIST-1 planetary system is news again, this time because we’ve taken the innermost planet’s temperature. That, by itself, isn’t newsworthy. We’ve been using infrared observations to learn how hot exoplanets are at least since 2006.1 What makes the latest … Continue reading

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Active Volcano on Venus: Before and After Images 0 (0)

Venus is dead as a doornail as far as life is concerned. Life as we know it, at any rate, and already I’m drifting off-topic. Geologically, though, we’ve known that there’s still metaphorical life in Venus. Or was, until very … Continue reading

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Peril in Orion! Beware Betelgeuse? 0 (0)

Betelgeuse, the bright red star in Orion’s right shoulder, is a semiregular variable star, with small periods of 185 days and 2,100 days and a main period of around 400 days. It will explode at any moment, and we’re right … Continue reading

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Edited Twins, Genetic Engineering and Bioethics 0 (0)

Gene-editing rules showed up in my news feed last Monday. So, indirectly, did genetically-edited twins who, as far as I know, are still alive. If I’d known how little I’d be able to verify about Dr. He Jiankui’s famous (or … Continue reading

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Snow Cruiser, Moon Buggies, Mars Tractors 0 (0)

I started writing about the Antarctic Snow Cruiser, “one of the colossal engineering flops of history”. Or, my opinion, a basically good design that was rushed into service. The Snow Cruiser and Little America III reminded me of imperial ambitions … Continue reading

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