Category Archives: Blog Entry

More on Pioneer Anomaly

This new information makes it pretty clear that the cause of the Pioneer Anomaly, that is the deviation of the Pioneer spacecraft from the trajectories dictated by gravity alone, is due to thermal sources internal to the spacecraft. A satisfying … Continue reading

Posted in Blog Entry, Physics, Space and Astronomy | Leave a comment

James Webb Space Telescope on Chopping Block

URGENT from Heidi Hammel: “The House Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Subcommittee has proposed termination of the James Webb Space Telescope. Now is the time to contact your representatives in Washington, as well as members of the Appropriations Subcommittees, if … Continue reading

Posted in Blog Entry, Planetary Science, Science, Science and Public Policy, Science Technology and Society, Space and Astronomy | 5 Comments

Japan can learn from Chernobyl

There’s been a lot of sensationalism about the meltdowns at the Japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. I just read an article that puts Fukushima into perspective without minimizing its seriousness.

Posted in Blog Entry, Science and Public Policy, Science Technology and Society, Technology | 2 Comments

What do extreme weather events tell us about climate change?

“Climate is what you expect. Weather is what you get.” That famous quotation from science fiction great Robert A. Heinlein captures the difficulty climate scientists have when trying to share the science behind global warming to the general public through … Continue reading

Posted in Blog Entry, Climate Change, Earth Science and Weather, Science and Public Policy, Science Technology and Society, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Track Kepler’s Candidate Exoplanets with a new app

I’m not an app person, but when I got an e-mail from Hanno Rein of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University suggesting that I look at a new iPhone/iPad app called “Kepler” to track the ever-increasing list of … Continue reading

Posted in Astrobiology, Blog Entry, Planetary Science, Space and Astronomy, Technology | 1 Comment

Make no myth-take about climate change risks

I have been an admirer of Richard Muller for some time, though I had no idea that he was among the climate change skeptics. One of the reasons I admire him is that he follows the evidence, and in doing so, he came to a conclusion opposite to what his funders had hoped for: “that the Berkeley (Earth Surface Temperature) project would conclude that global warming is a myth.” No myth. No myth-take! Continue reading

Posted in Blog Entry, Climate Change, Science and Public Policy, Science Technology and Society | Tagged | 8 Comments

Follow science blogger/children’s author on Facebook

If you are a regular reader of my blog postings, you know that I am a passionate, opinionated middle-of-the-roader. I bring the same passion to my writing for young readers, but I want them to learn to form their own … Continue reading

Posted in Astrobiology, Blog Entry, Climate Change, Energy, Life Science and Evolution, Physics, Planetary Science, Science and Public Policy, Space and Astronomy | Leave a comment

Knotty Issue: Drafting Climate Change Policy in the face of scientific uncertainty

To quote Andrew Wright: “human health and environmental policy require management decisions ahead of scientific certainty” Continue reading

Posted in Blog Entry, Climate Change, Science and Public Policy | Leave a comment

Heidi Hammel Appointed AURA Executive Vice President

Noted planetary astronomer Heidi B. Hammel, who is best known scientifically for her studies of Uranus and Neptune and by the general public for her lively descriptions of the impact of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 into Jupiter in 1994, has begun … Continue reading

Posted in Blog Entry, Planetary Science, Space and Astronomy | Leave a comment