Tag Archives: science

Bioethics and a Three-Parent Baby

A Jordanian couple have a baby boy: who does not have a lethal genetic disorder, thanks to DNA transplanted from a third person. Four of his siblings did not survive the procedure. I’ll be talking about the decisions involved in … Continue reading

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Europa, Mars, and Someday the Stars

Scientists think they’ve detected more plumes of water, shooting up from near Europa’s south pole. It’s early days, but we may have found a comparatively easy way to collect samples from the Jovian moon’s subsurface ocean. Stephen Hawking says humanity … Continue reading

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The Minden Monster, What Killed Lucy

The ‘Minden Monster,’ a whacking great carnivore that lived about a hundred million years before T. Rex, is in the news again. Studying it will help scientists work out details of megalosaur development. I’m fascinated by that sort of thing. … Continue reading

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SETI and Life’s Ladder

I’d be surprised if many folks took movies like “Earth vs. the Flying Saucers,” “Invaders from Mars,” and “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” seriously: as something other than entertainment, anyway. All of which has about as much to do with … Continue reading

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ESA’s Gaia, HD 164695, and SETI

Scientists working with ESA’s Gaia space observatory published the first part of a three-dimensional sky map this week. It’ll be the most comprehensive all-sky survey done so far. Not unexpectedly, this year’s ‘ET calling’ headlines gave way to something slightly … Continue reading

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