Category Archives: Science News

Seeking truth, learning how things work, using that knowledge to make new tools

Starliner, Dream Chaser, and Beyond: The Sky is Not the Limit

When I was young, the future was exciting: cities on the Moon, computers that can fly spaceships, and more. Then we tried making those dreams a reality; which we’ve been doing. In part. One goal of this week’s Starliner test … Continue reading

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Alcubierre Drive: a New, Subluminal, Physical Solution

It’s been 30 years since a Mexican theoretical physicist said that a warp drive was possible: hypothetically. And published math that backed up his claim. Last month, a team of scientists showed how we could build a warp drive: again, … Continue reading

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A Super-Earth With an Air About It: 55 Cancri e, Janssen

This month’s analysis of a piping hot super-Earth’s atmosphere is a big deal. But it’s not the “first” detection of a terrestrial exoplanet’s atmosphere, not by about eight years.1 I’ll be talking about how scientists sift through data, 55 Cancri … Continue reading

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Kamoʻoalewa: Breakaway Asteroid and Quasi-Moon

The asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa isn’t exactly Earth’s second moon. But it’s been circling our world for centuries: and near Earth’s orbit for much longer. Now scientists say they’ve traced the asteroid back to Giordano Bruno crater on the Moon. I’ll … Continue reading

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Voyager 1: Back Online, Still Outward Bound

This isn’t what I’m writing about this week, but it’s noteworthy: “NASA’s Voyager 1 Resumes Sending Engineering Updates to Earth“Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology (April 22, 2024 ) “After some inventive sleuthing, the mission team can — … Continue reading

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