Category Archives: Current events

Success for Kepler: an Earth-sized planet in the habitable (?) zone

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

The Kepler Spacecraft’s primary planet hunting mission has ended, but the data it generated will keep astronomers busy for years to come.  Today, NASA announced that it has found in that mountain of data, Kepler’s first truly Earth-sized planet in … Continue reading →

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Cosmos side by side

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey aired its fourth episode this week. The long-awaited follow-up to Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage may only be enjoying modest ratings in our modern 500-channels-with-DVR-and-Internet media, but it continues to keep pace … Continue reading →

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2012 VP113: a weird new “dwarf planet”

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

Astronomers Chad Trujillo and Scott Sheppard announced this week the discovery of a new icy world in the outer Solar System, named 2012 VP113. Trujillo is a colleague of Mike Brown, who discovered the dwarf planet Eris, which is larger … Continue reading →

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Math is hard

Posted on March 22, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

Math is hard. That may sound strange coming from an astrophysicist with a degree in math, but in some ways, it’s very true. Yes, it gets easier with practice, but only up to a point. I can attest from experience … Continue reading →

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Television review: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s long awaited sequel to Carl Sagan’s Cosmos: A Personal Voyage premiered on Sunday. For those of you who have not seen it, you can watch the full episode on the website. My feelings … Continue reading →

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The new Cosmos series premiers!

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

In 1980, the great astronomer and popular science figure Carl Sagan (top) premiered the acclaimed PBS series, Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which introduced millions of people to the wonders of the universe for the first time. It remained the most … Continue reading →

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Planets abound!

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

It’s always fun when a government agency uses the word “bonanza” in a press release. NASA’s Kepler space telescope spent mission spent three and a half years observing distant stars in our galaxy looking for planets crossing in front of … Continue reading →

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Bill Nye, Ken Ham, and how science works, part 1

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

Last week, the world saw a rare sight: a creationist debating an evolutionist in public. Bill Nye “The Science Guy” has a degree in mechanical engineering, is an agnostic, and believes in evolution. Ken Ham has degrees in environmental biology … Continue reading →

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In the sky: supernova in M82!

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

The little arrow in the picture is pointing to SN 2014J, a new supernova in the M82 galaxy. It may not look like much in this picture, but it’s getting brighter. Here’s a more recent photo, as of January 25. … Continue reading →

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Of mice and men and monkeys

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

Caloric restriction is a diet in which humans or animals eat fewer calories than they normally would–anywhere from 20% to 50% less. It has become a fad diet for some, not just for losing weight (which is the obvious result), … Continue reading →

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