Tech News

Why Was Carl Sagan Blackballed from the National Academy of Sciences?

If you’re ever feeling crappy about not getting recognition for your work, just remember that even Carl Sagan got negs from his scientific colleagues. In fact, he was never allowed into the National Academy of Sciences, despite all he did to popularize the scientific worldview. In an article about Sagan’s life, his former student David … Continued

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There are at Least 11 Runaway Galaxies Screaming Across the Universe

Every now and then, astronomers spy a runaway star, one that’s hurling itself across its galaxy at breakneck speeds. But stars aren’t the only things that occasionally go beserker in the cosmic void: Galaxies themselves will sometimes depart home, never to return. In fact, astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics have now spotted 11 … Continued

ScienceSpace & Spaceflight

Sorry Trekkies, Tau Ceti Probably Doesn’t Harbor Alien Life

The number of exoplanets that might harbor alien life grows every year. But now, astronomers now think we can check one of science fiction’s most beloved staples off the list: Tau Ceti. Tau Ceti, a sun-like star system only 12 light years away, has long been considered one of the first places we might discover … Continued

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The Universe’s Earliest Star Clusters May Have Been RIDICULOUSLY Bright

New research from Western University in Ontario suggests the universe’s first stars amassed in conglomerations so bright they shone with the power of a hundred million suns. Above: An artist’s impression of some of the first stars in the early Universe. Five protostars are seen here forming in the centre of disks of gas. Caption … Continued

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The first exoplanet ever discovered is now the first exoplanet ever observed in visible light. 51 Pegasi B, a super Jupiter located about 50 light-years from Earth, was detected by comparing the light bouncing off its highly reflective surface to the spectral signature of its host star. It’s hoped the new technique will lead to … Continued

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NASA Is Seriously Revving Up The Search For Alien Life

A few weeks ago, NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan made news by saying, “I think we’re going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we’re going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years.” It was a bold statement, but NASA is now backing those words with … Continued

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The Most Accurate Simulations Yet Of Massive Black Holes Merging

By applying the rules of Einsteinian general relativity to data pulled in by the Pan-STARRS telescope, scientist have developed two distinct simulations of supermassive black hole mergers that are considered the best yet. As reported in Nature News, these simulations were presented earlier this month at a meeting of the American Physical Society in Baltimore, … Continued

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Everything You Need to Know to Catch This Week’s Lyrid Meteor Shower

This year’s Lyrid meteor shower is expected to peak between midnight and dawn on Wednesday, April 22 and Thursday, April 23rd. Here’s what you need to know to spot as many meteors as possible. Above: The 2012 Lyrid meteor shower, as seen from aboard the International Space Station. The flashes of white light are emanating … Continued

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Dawn Is Arriving At Ceres, And The View Is Getting Pretty Sweet

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is settling into its first orbit around dwarf planet Ceres. And as you can see from this newly released animation, the view is getting to be quite spectacular. These images were taken by Dawn on April 14 and 15 from a distance of 14,000 miles (22,000 km). Each pixel represents about 1.3 … Continued

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This Image May Suggest The Destructive Powers Of A White Dwarf Star

This stunning Chandra image of ngc6388 suggests that “a white dwarf star may have ripped apart a planet as it came too close.” More from NASA (and even more info here): When a star reaches its white dwarf stage, nearly all of the material from the star is packed inside a radius one hundredth that … Continued

ScienceSpace & Spaceflight

Enceladus’s Ice Volcanoes Are Feeding Saturn’s Rings

Saturn’s ice moon Enceladus is being slowly devoured by the gas giant’s rings, according to a series of new NASA images that show ghostly tendrils escaping the moon’s cryo-volcanoes and shooting off into space. Whoa. Enceladus may be a 310-mile across baby of a moon, but it’s been enjoying a lot of buzz lately. Like … Continued

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Scientists Map The Dark Matter Around Millions Of Galaxies

This week, scientists with the Dark Energy Survey (DES) collaboration released the first in a series of detailed maps charting the distribution of dark matter inferred from its gravitational effects. The new maps confirm current theories that suggest galaxies will form where large concentrations of dark matter exist. The first Dark Energy Survey map to … Continued

ScienceSpace & Spaceflight

The Universe’s Largest Galaxies Rotted From the Inside Out 

Littered across the cosmos are massive, dead galaxies, containing roughly half the stars in the known Universe. Much about these cosmic graveyards remains a mystery, but a study published yesterday in Science study offers additional insight into their death: They rotted from the inside out. The “red and dead” galaxies depicted on the right in … Continued

SciencePhysics & Chemistry

Astronomers Are Furious About the Roomba Lawnmower

I know, right? What could the makers of Roomba and astronomers possibly be arguing over? This is the story of how an obscure slice of the electromagnetic spectrum become the object of one bitter fight. iRobot, the company behind the Roomba, has been looking to bring its little robot technology to the outdoors, according to … Continued

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Elon Musk: “Humans Need To Be A Multiplanet Species”

Bad Astronomy’s Phil Plait recently visited the SpaceX construction factory. His visit also included a chat with CEO Elon Musk. This should excite you. Plait is a consummate nerd, and Elon Musk is Elon Musk. Bring them together and you’re bound to get good things (the quote up top, for instance). Above: The SpaceX Falcon … Continued

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These Are Easily The Most Gorgeous Maps Of The Moon Ever

On the request of NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey has prepared two highly detailed maps of the Moon. Fortunately, they’ve also been made available to the public, so check ’em out in all their lunar glory. The two sets of maps, compiled by USGS cartographer Trent Hare and colleagues, include image mosaics and topographical maps. … Continued

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Our First Glimpse of Pluto And Charon In Color

These two blobs may not look like much, but it’s a watershed moment for the New Horizons mission. It’s the first color photo of Pluto and its largest moon, Charon, taken by an approaching spacecraft. Taken on April 9 from a distance of 71-million miles, it’s a teaser of things to come. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins … Continued

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 A Scan Of 100,000 Galaxies Shows No Sign Of Alien Mega-Civilizations

A pioneering infrared scan of 100,000 galaxies by Penn State astronomers has failed to detect any signs of galaxy-spanning extraterrestrial supercivilizations. This result, though very preliminary, may be a sign that aliens aren’t capable of conquering entire galaxies. Above: A false-color image of the mid-infrared emission from the Great Galaxy in Andromeda, as seen by … Continued

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The Surface Of Ceres Explodes Into View With This First Color Map

After months of anticipation, NASA scientists have finally produced a detailed color map of Ceres. Our first detailed look at the dwarf planet’s pitted surface reveals it is a geologically complex place. This image was constructed from images pulled in by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft as it was still approaching Ceres and prior to it settling … Continued

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Mysterious Radio Signals Came From Microwave Oven, Not Outer Space

Sometimes, the powerful radio bursts detected by our telescopes have the look of alien beacons, or other strange astronomical phenomena. Other times, they’re caused by scientists reheating coffee. The latter happens to be the case when it comes to the origin of mysterious radio signals known as perytons. For years, astronomers at the Parkes Observatory … Continued