Archives for October 2, 2009

When I was a kid, Mercury and Pluto were the bookends of our Solar System. The two smallest planets, one of them was distant, icy, and raw, and the other was close in, speedy, and overcooked. One of them had the New Horizons mission planned for it, and the other had the Messenger mission. Only…

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Weekend Diversion: The Top 10 Forests in the World

“But I’ll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest…
Where does an earthquake’s energy come from?

“As seismologists gained more experience from earthquake records, it became obvious that the problem could not…
The Far Future of our Solar System

“No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for…
Messier Monday: The Youngest Star-Forming Region, The Trifid Nebula, M20

“Why I came here, I know not; where I shall go it is useless to inquire…
Weekend Diversion: An 8-bit mashup, reimagined

“I don’t understand how super mario can smash blocks with his head but dies when he…
Why Science Is Anything But A Crime

“Talent hits the target no one else can hit; genius hits the target no one else…
Putting Einstein to the Test

“The views of space and time which I wish to lay before you have sprung from…
Messier Monday: A Real-Life Pi-in-the-Sky Cluster, M38

“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” -W.…
Weekend Diversion: I’m Writing for NASA Now!

“For I dipped into the Future,
far as human eye could see;
saw the vision of the world,
and…
The Cosmic Speed Limit

“All our sweetest hours fly the fastest.” -Virgil
If you’ve been around the block once or twice,…