Nature Reports Armitage Discrimination Case
November 5, 2014
The leading scientific journal has reported Mark Armitage's lawsuit against California State University for firing him as a creationist.
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Active Moon Triton Revisited
August 25, 2014
25 years ago today, Voyager 2 flew by Triton, a moon of Neptune, astonishing scientists with its active geology.
Keeping Titan Old
June 21, 2014
As the Cassini orbiter makes its 103rd close pass by Titan, have long-agers found ways to keep it billions of years old?
Here Come the Martians Again
March 1, 2014
The "science" of astrobiology was launched when strange markings in a Martian meteorite were interpreted to be evidence of life. Here comes another one.
New Craters Found on Mars
February 13, 2014
Orbiters can count new craters forming on Mars, refining cratering rates. One spectacular new crater has appeared since 2010 with vivid rays.
Is This Any Way to Learn About the Origin of Life?
September 22, 2012
Pollute, freeze, zap. Goal: "to better understand how life arose on Earth."
Whole Lotta Evolvin’ Goin’ On
September 5, 2012
Your dog learned the most effective way to shake water off: by evolution, maybe. Maybe evolution did other things, too.
New Worlds
October 28, 2011
Members of our solar system that were little more than points of light for decades or centuries have now become familiar family members, seen up close and personal by spacecraft. Here are introductions to three worlds that are no longer mere names in a catalog. Even the names of members in this trio may be unfamiliar to some. They’re worth getting to know.
Pagan Gods Launched into Space
August 5, 2011
The latest Jupiter probe from NASA is named Juno, after the name of the wife of Jupiter, Roman chief of the gods. Launched today (August 5), the Juno spacecraft will use Earth for gravity assist in a complex path, to arrive at Jupiter in 2016, where it will study the largest planet from a polar orbit. As “part of a joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” according to a press release from the Jet Propulsion Lab, the spacecraft carries 1.5-inch likeness of three figures: Galileo Galileo, who discovered Jupiter’s moons, the Roman god Jupiter, and his wife Juno.
Planet-Makers Ask Miracles to Evade Death Spiral
August 21, 2009
Remember the old artwork of planets gently forming out of dust orbiting a young star? That’s all gone. Reality has set it. Clumps of material a meter across need help – almost miraculous help – to avoid getting sucked into the star in a giant death spiral. If you don’t believe it, ask John Chambers […]
Explorer 1 Chief Discovers Design
January 31, 2008
On this day 50 years ago, America entered the space race. On January 31, 1958, America gave its answer to Sputnik: a civilian satellite named Explorer 1. Within a few hours of the time of day these words are being written, von Braun’s Jupiter-C rocket at Cape Canaveral, Florida, successfully launched a JPL satellite into […]
Astrobiology: Follow the Money
January 7, 2005
To date, astrobiology remains, as George Gaylord Simpson once quipped, “an area of study without a known subject.” Yet it is one of the hottest research areas within NASA. A renowned origin-of-life researcher from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Dr. Jeffrey Bada, found out why when he read the new book The Living Universe: NASA and […]
Did Life Begin as “Failed Mineralogy” on the Seafloor?
December 3, 2004
A geologist with a lot of bluff and bluster makes the origin of life sound easy, but gets nailed by direct questions.
Origin-of-Life Expert Jokes about Becoming a Creationist
November 5, 2004
Chemist admits problems in chemical evolution are so hard, he is tempted to become a creationist.