In The Year 2025
Scientists predict that, by 2025, we'll know if there are any other species producing radio waves. Estimates are currently that we're about 1,000 light years from any other species with such...
View ArticleMeanwhile, in Saskatchewan
The Canadian DaVinci Project has a launch date -- October 2. (Picture from the BBC.) On that date, a balloon will lift off from Kindersley, Saskatchewan bearing, among other things, the logo of the...
View ArticleHeroes Of Capitalism
Space Transport Corp. made its play for the Ansari XPrize yesterday, launching its Rubicon I at the edge of the Olympia peninsula in Washington state. The launch was...a complete disaster. (Picture...
View ArticleThe Winner: SpaceShipOne
It's not just that they're on schedule while Canada's entry has been delayed. Nope. The big news is they passed the audition with the market. Virgin's Richard Branson announced he will back their play...
View ArticleThe Age Of Private Spaceflight Begins
While you watch SpaceShipOne make its historic attempt to win the XPrize today, I'm sure what you're asking yourself if -- what comes next? That's the question, after all, that eluded Apollo. What came...
View ArticleX-Prize Captured
Mission Accomplished! Congratulations to SpaceShipOne, winner of the Ansari X-Prize. What's next? (Image from the New York Times.)...
View ArticleScience Friday
It seems we have science every day here, but even so. Let's talk Titan. Titan has been a favorite of science fiction writers for many years now, ever since we got to the Moon (finding it empty) and...
View ArticleBig Dangerous Waste
The launch this week of a new Boeing Delta rocket (picture from the BBC story) , without a real payload, demonstrates everything that's wrong with the current U.S. space program. The real problem in...
View ArticleNew Galaxies (Not So Far Away)
The headlines were misleading. Recent galactic births surprise astronomers from New Scientist. Youthful Galaxies Surprise Astronomers from Space.Com. Here's the straight poop. (The picture is from the...
View ArticleSpace Truth Stranger Then Fiction
In all the great sci-fi written about Saturn's moon Titan, no one (to my knowledge) imagined a world where liquid methane carves the land as water does here. (The NASA image comes from Resa.Net.) But...
View ArticleLet's Do Lunch
Now that Star Trek is officially dead (no new shows or movies, even in production) the time has come for a new idea. Here's one. Stardate. It's an anthology series, built around various scientific...
View ArticleStepping Toward a Space Elevator
Amid all the recent stories about the U.S. abandoning basic science I offer a counter-example. Rice University, my old school has an $11 million deal with NASA to develop carbon nanotubes that will, at...
View ArticleMeanwhile, back in space
One good thing about covering space is that it puts what's happening to this Big Blue Marble into proper perspective. See if you don't agree: Closer to the Big Bang -- Space is a time machine. When you...
View ArticleAnother Route Toward Long-Term Research
Funding effective long-term research -- cutting-edge stuff that helps your bottom line -- is where nearly every company falls down. Microsoft has been pouring billions into its research effort for...
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