Space

In our solar system, there are two basic kinds of planets- smaller, rocky terrestrials like Earth and Mars and then large gas giants like Neptune and Jupiter. Though a middle ground between those two is missing locally, NASA's Kepler mission has discovered that these types of planets are very common around other stars. The aliens worlds of other systems - exoplanets - include terrestrials and gas giants, like we have, but also mid-sized "gas dwarfs" - based on how their host stars tend to fall into three distinct groups defined by their compositions. Kepler finds exoplanets using the…

Kim Stanley Robinson in his famous Trilogy Red, Green and Blue Mars describes a science fiction future with Mars changing colour to green and then to blue. But what also about snowball white after a failed terraforming attempt? Or, what about purple, or black (or darker in colour)? Perhaps you can think of other colours it could turn as well? I thought this would be a great way to explore some of the complexities of planetary transformation, to imagine the possible future colours of Mars - depending on human actions, deliberate or accidental. I'm doing this also as a contribution to ideas…

Kim Stanley Robinson in his famous Trilogy Red, Green and Blue Mars describes a science fiction future with Mars changing colour to green and then to blue. However there are many other colours Mars could have as a result of human terraforming attempts or accidental or deliberate planet alterations. Snowball White is perhaps most likely after a failed terraforming attempt. With other scenarios, it could be black (or darker in colour) or purple or other colours. I thought this would be a great way to explore some of the complexities of planetary transformation, to imagine the possible future…

You can't seeit from here, but the moon is lopsided; that's because of its gravitational tug-of-war with Earth. The mutual pulling of the two bodies is powerful enough to stretch them both and they wind up shaped a little like two eggs with their ends pointing toward one another. On Earth, the tension has an especially strong effect on the oceans, because water moves so freely. The moon is the driving force behind tides.  For the first time, scientists can see the moon's lopsided shape and how it changes under Earth's sway – a response not seen from orbit before. Because orbiting…

The slopes of a giant Martian volcano nearly twice as tall as Mount Everest, called Arsia Mons, were once covered in glacial ice and they may have been home to one of the most recent habitable environments yet found on the Red Planet, according to new research. Arsia Mons is the third tallest volcano on Mars and one of the largest mountains in the solar system. The new analysis of the landforms surrounding Arsia Mons shows that eruptions along the volcano's northwest flank happened at the same time that a glacier covered the region around 210 million years ago. The heat from those eruptions…

This is something often said in discussions of Extra Terrestrials. For instance in this interview with the famous Japanese theorist Michio Kaku  "Or they could be so advanced that we would be like ants to them, so maybe they wouldn’t be interested in us." Now - if they are very "advanced" then they might well not be interested in us - but still - they might have a lot to learn from us if that's the situation even if they don't realize it. And whether they are interested in us or not, then there's a reasonable chance we could detect them. So - this analogy with ants - it's…

The structures and star populations of massive galaxies appear to change as they age, but much about how these galaxies formed and evolved remains mysterious. Many of the oldest and most massive galaxies reside in clusters, enormous structures where numerous galaxies are found concentrated together. Galaxy clusters in the early universe are thought to be key to understanding the lifecycles of old galaxies, but to date astronomers have located only a handful of these rare, distant structures. New research from a team led by Carnegie's Andrew Newman has confirmed the presence of an unusually…

Following on from Crew Tether Spin - With Final Stage - On Routine Mission To ISS - First Human Test Of Artificial Gravity?, I've got some great videos to share now, showing the Soyuz and final stage spinning to create artificial gravity, over the turning Earth, against the stars. So, let's take a look at the highlights of the mission in video, ready for the Space Show webinar on artificial gravity. First, launch sequence, if you haven't seen it yet This shows how the final stage and the Soyuz end up in the same orbit - which is what makes this idea work Then, gentle tether spin just to…

SETI scientist Gerry Harp writes of a "secret" experiment involving Kepler 186-f.   The senior scientist look only for a tuning fork like signal.  The least likely signal ET would send. Real signs of ET intelligence will be, and if I am correct are in fact, much fainter and on a broad band like channel.  A serious scientific search should not attempt to rely only on radio data, or look only for a strictly monochromatic, one frequency, radio signal. That is the least likely signal ET would use for communication.  He specifically cites my article as one to which he…

You may remember, a while back I talked about Joe Carroll's ingenious idea to do our first ever true experiment in a gravity tether during a routine Soyuz crew transfer to the ISS, His idea is to use the third stage -which goes into orbit anyway, as the counterweight. Remarkably, the whole thing, even including the spin up to create artificial gravity, uses almost no extra fuel over a normal mission to the ISS. This could help with numerous health issues of zero g.  Something like this: 600m tether 1 rpm - Crew In Artificial Gravity Tether Spin  Simulation of a…