First, Minute Physics takes a shot at explaining what the BICEP2 team actually found and how it relates to gravitational waves. I think I'm going to have to watch this a second time to pick up everything. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IlBNJbCzfk And Ethan Siegel has an in-depth discussion of cosmic inflation at his Starts With A Bang site.
Tag: Astronomy
Why the Asteroid Belt Doesn’t Threaten Spacecraft
When Cosmos showed the asteroid belt Sunday night, I noticed that, taking some artistic license to quickly get a point across, they showed it as crammed with asteroids. Anyone familiar with the real asteroid belt knows that's not accurate. Even in the belt, asteroids are lonely rocks. When you think of the asteroid belt, you … Continue reading Why the Asteroid Belt Doesn’t Threaten Spacecraft
Kepler’s Latest Exoplanet Hoard, Graphed
Ok, so if you're like me, you probably didn't pay much attention to the latest announcement of the number of exoplanets that had been found by Kepler. It seems like those kinds of announcements have become old hat. This reaction must have been common, and must have annoyed someone at NASA, so they created this … Continue reading Kepler’s Latest Exoplanet Hoard, Graphed
Astronomy’s Alpha Male | Seth Shostak
The other day, I asked if the age of science might eventually come to an end, noting that amateur scientific work has become rare. In this post about the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, whose data findings will be made publicly available, Seth Shostak describes a situation that might enable amateur discoveries again, at least for … Continue reading Astronomy’s Alpha Male | Seth Shostak
For interstellar travel, transmission is much cheaper
It will always be a lot cheaper to send a radio signal to an interstellar destination than any kind of physical presence. Our discussion the other day on the difficulties of interstellar travel left me pondering this, something that is well known to astronomers and other thinkers in this area. Given sufficiently advanced technology, the … Continue reading For interstellar travel, transmission is much cheaper
How far away is the closest extraterrestrial civilization?
First, let me be clear on what I'm talking about: intelligent aliens with an advanced civilization. This is a different question than extraterrestrial life in general. For life in general, particularly simple life, I'd be surprised if we'd have to look more than a hundred light years from Earth. (We may know the answer to … Continue reading How far away is the closest extraterrestrial civilization?
Ask Ethan #20: Is the Mars One crew doomed? – Starts With A Bang
What Mars One is counting on is that they can safely land a heavier payload than ever before, that they can do it more precisely than ever before (as in, within just a few hundred meters of previous successful landings), and they can do it for only 12% of the projected costs, with a total … Continue reading Ask Ethan #20: Is the Mars One crew doomed? – Starts With A Bang
xkcd: Oort Cloud
xkcd: Oort Cloud. Comet ISON survived its swing by the sun, at least somewhat.
SelfAwarePatterns 