Search Results

If you have to say “never forget,” you’ve probably already forgotten.

How does one test how the human mind will react to the isolation of space travel? Send them to Antarctica.

The most important lessons about Earth come from looking outward. “We came all this way to explore the Moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the Earth.” […]

Sick of yogurt winding up stuck to the underside of the lid? Problem solved. “My love for you would blot out the sun like a cloud made out of yogurt. […]

Could everything we’ve put together about science turn out to be wrong? “Revolutions are something you see only in retrospect.” –Alan Greenspan We’re always on the lookout for the next […]

Psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD are being researched again after a 40-year hiatus, and the results are promising, from both a scientific and spiritual perspective. 

Time out of the sun and covering up when you’re on the beach is still the best way reduce your risk of skin cancer, but researchers suggest pain relievers may help as well.

Ever wonder why men finish their meals faster than women? No? Maybe? Well, a recent study shows men eat with more “chewing power” than women and take larger bites.

All you need are clear skies, a telescope, and a plan. Make it a great one. “For my confirmation, I didn’t get a watch and my first pair of long […]

On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will cross the USA. Start planning for it now. “Astronomers are greatly disappointed when, having traveled halfway around the world to see […]

“A depressing number of people seem to process everything literally. They are to wit as a blind man is to a forest, able to find every tree, but each one coming as a surprise.”

Is everything astonishingly simple, though? Or is this a grandiose claim that falls flat when confronted with the evidence? “My main interest is the problem of the singularity. If we […]

On March 4th at 19:30:15 Universal Time, Venus and Uranus will pass within 0.1° of each other. Here’s how to see it. “Since you cannot do good to all, you […]

It’s hard enough to measure here on Earth, so how do we measure magnetism for our Sun, the stars and even distant galaxies? “Nothing is too wonderful to be true, […]

This weekend, the Geminids arrive, and promise to be the best meteor shower of the entire year! “Men of genius are often dull and inert in society; as the blazing […]

What would you do? Imagine you’re a politically conservative, devoutly religious art dealer fleeing your war-torn country when you suddenly see art radically unlike anything you’ve seen before. Do you stay the course or gamble on this next “big thing”? Now add the sudden death of your pregnant young wife, which leaves you with five children under the age of nine whose futures now depend entirely on your choices. Do you roll the dice with your life and theirs? If you’re Paul Durand-Ruel and that artist is Claude Monet, the original Impressionist, you don’t just make that bet; you go “all in” — staking your family’s fortunes to those of a family of revolutionary artists. The exhibition Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting, currently at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, goes “all in” with Durand-Ruel’s gamble and pays off big with a stirring tale of personal courage and art history in the making.

In the story of where all this comes from, our closest world was a mystery for millennia. But now we know! “But even when the moon looks like it’s waning…it’s […]

Futurists who believe endlessly in the miracle of technology are seizing on the approaching Internet of Things as the next harbinger of leisure, independence, and fun in the sun. 

It’s the only thing separating real knowledge from ignorant misinformation. “The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth, whether it’s scientific truth or historical truth or personal […]

Remember the “Pillars of Creation,” the star-forming nursery in the heart of the Eagle Nebula? You’ve never seen it like this. “The whole difference between construction and creation is exactly […]

Without this one piece of the puzzle, everything we know falls apart. “Is no one inspired by our present picture of the Universe? This value of science remains unsung by […]

We’ve just landed our first-ever probe on the surface of a comet. Here’s what it means, and what we’ll learn. “I must trust that the little bit of love that […]

Our love of the one-time ninth planet holds the key to our drive for venturing out into the Universe. “I have announced this star as a comet, but since it […]

It burns so hot and intense, it’s probably already gone. But what a sight! “The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long.” –Lao Tzu Image credit: NASA, […]

While 2015 gives us all a fresh start, we can consider the Big Bang until today to be “One Universe Year.” What comes next? “And now we welcome the new […]

A once and a lifetime event has come into our field of view. New Year’s celebrators should be able to easily spot Comet Lovejoy skirting past the constellation Orion in the night sky till mid January.

If they’re so massive that not even light can escape, how can we see them? “According to the special theory of relativity nothing can travel faster than light, so that […]

It’s home to everything we’ve ever directly explored, but where did our Solar System come from? “When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are […]

Image credit: © 2015 MotorTrend Magazine, via http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/suvs/1110_mopar_underground_jeep_and_ram_run_wild_at_moab/photo_06.html. How gravity teaches us that the mountains we see extend far underground. “Journalists often ask me when I go to the field, […]

How to figure out your location on Earth with only the most primitive tools. “And you may find yourself in another part of the world.And you may find yourself behind […]