Search Results

Rather than hauling heavy atmospheric pumps from earth, the way to create a habitable atmosphere on Mars is to take advantage of its own topology, geography and nature.

Michigan does not have a monopoly on hand-based cartography.

Fifty years after Gagarin, plans abound for crewed missions into deeper space. A near-Earth asteroid landing, one-way trip to Mars, or hover point hiatus in mid-space, anyone?

Planetary geologists appear to have found water on Mars near the equator, where the red planet is milder and more hospitable. This may be key to us being able to go there.

As part of its “Works & Process” series of events, the Guggenheim Museum in New York is presenting a lecture by legendary physicist, mathematician and futurist Freeman Dyson of Princeton’s […]

A showdown over the course of Solar System exploration has ended with a qualified victory for Mars. NASA firmly favours a mission to Mars over a rival one to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.

Earth’s magnetic field has typically been understood to shield the planet from solar wind, but recent observations of Mars and Venus have sparked a debate over the supposed shield.

“We are the mediocre presidents. You won’t find our faces on dollars or on cents! There’s Taylor, there’s Tyler, There’s Fillmore and there’s Hayes. There’s William Henry Harrison,” (Harrison:) “I […]

In a book review for Discover Your Inner Economist, New York Magazine has put together a great profile of author Tyler Cowen, who is also an A-list blogger over at […]

After more than 250 days in isolation, three participants of a simulated mission to Mars stepped out to a mock-up of the red planet in Moscow and planted flags in the sand.

In second grade, my teacher made a statement that literally shocked me to the core. I have not forgotten it after all these years. She said, “God so loved the […]

The fabled planetary alignment predicted to occur in 2012 is actually happening right now. Is this a sign of the Apocalypse, or just eye candy for stargazers?

UPDATE: Contest Deadline is Friday, March 11th at 8 a.m. EST and the Five Winners will be Announced Next Week – Stay Tuned! Imagine, if you can, the world in the […]

This week, I will be guest blogging at TAPPED, the group blog of the American Prospect. I’ve got big plans for the week ahead. Please join me. My first post […]

This post is a review of The New Cool: A Visionary Teacher, His FIRST Robotics Team, and the Ultimate Battle of Smarts by Neal Bascomb. My short recommendation? This book […]

Area 51 has long been a treasure trove for conspiracy theorists. Now a new book delivers some bombshell claims about the world’s most famous and secretive military installation.

For 15 million years, a vast icebound lake has been sealed deep beneath Antarctica’s frozen crust, possibly hiding prehistoric or other unknown life. Now, the lake is about to be unsealed.

More than 30 years after NASA’s Viking landers found no evidence for organic materials on Mars, scientists say a new experiment on Mars-like soil shows Viking did, in fact, hit pay dirt.

The Dragon, a new privately funded spacecraft, should revolutionize American space exploration. And make clear the ability to commercialize innovation.

In 2011, “solid evidence will emerge for some form of life on Mars based upon inferring a biogenic origin for the methane gas in its atmosphere.”

It only has one job: instil map readers with fear and revulsion.

“Disorientation is lost of the East,” novelist Salman Rushdie has written, reminding us of the original meaning of “Orient.” In The Orient Expressed: Japan’s Influence on Western Art, 1854-1918, which […]

For a few decades now, the title holder for largest volcano in the solar system has been Mars’ Olympus Mons. The volcano is a large – and by that I […]

An effective response to the obesity epidemic will come only when pundits and policymakers unite around scientifically-robust policies that address its causes and consequences.

Yesterday, SpaceX became the very first commercial company in history to re-enter spacecraft from low-Earth orbit. Another first was on November 23rd when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a […]

There are plenty of places on Earth that seem alien to us. The deep sea is a perfect example: it’s been said that we know more about Mars than we do about the bottom of the ocean.

Humans could be walking on Mars within the next couple decades, for only a fraction of the cost if explorers are given one-way tickets. It’s not a suicide mission, say cosmologists.

Because of the wave nature of matter, there is a finite possibility—albeit a minuscule one—that you could go to bed on Earth and wake up the next morning on Mars.

Can and should we try to drill deep into the earth, past the crust and into the mantle? We’ve tried in the past but haven’t gotten far. If the earth was an orange, we’d have barely zested it.

The Republican Party’s maniacal obsession with repealing, revoking, or rescinding any trace of the healthcare legislation the Obama Administration and the Democrats passed into law almost a year ago has […]