Monthly Archives: May 2013

Four far-flung planets

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

Some solar systems have a lot of planets packed in close to their stars. Others are just the opposite. HR 8799 is a young star that is more massive than our Sun. It’s so young–about 30 million years–that it’s planetary … Continue reading →

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Book review: Inferno by Dan Brown

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

In spite of all logic, I have a soft spot for Dan Brown. I genuinely enjoyed his early work. I got started on Angels and Demons, which I thought was pretty good at the time, despite some errors. I also … Continue reading →

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Movie review: Star Trek Into Darkness

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I’m a life-long Trekkie. I’ve seen all of the movies (even the absurd Star Trek V) and most of all five series. I also thoroughly enjoyed J. J. Abrams’s in-universe reboot of … Continue reading →

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A planetary six-pack

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

Mercury, the closest planet to our Sun, is often thought of as being super-close to the Sun and super hot. But really, it’s 40% of Earth’s distance from the Sun, and it’s only 430 degrees Celsius (800 Fahrenheit) on the … Continue reading →

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Quality control, part 3: the arts

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Alex R. Howe

This is final post in my series on quality control. Click the links to see part 1 and part 2. The Internet gives everyone a voice. It either has become or is becoming our library, our newspaper, our encyclopedia, our … Continue reading →

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