Stories by George Musser

Beasts of the Stellar Zoo [Slide Show]

From yellow dwarfs to blue supergiants, stars continue to challenge astronomers' understanding of the universe

Phasebook? My(Green)Space? Can Social Networking Be Harnessed for Energy Conservation?

The latest to announce its demise is Google Powermeter. All the efforts to combine social networking with energy conservation seem to be pulling the plug.

Is Reality Digital or Analog? Read the Essays and Cast your Vote

Is Reality Digital or Analog? Read the Essays and Cast your Vote

Last week, the Foundation Questions Institute announced the winners of its third essay contest, which Scientific American co-sponsored. (I helped to decide on the question, judge the essays and hand out the awards at the World Science Festival in New York City.) The essay question was, "Is Reality Digital or Analog?" Is nature, at root, continuous or discretized?...

What Would Happen If Earth and Mars Switched Places?

Last Saturday, at a workshop organized by the Foundation Questions Institute, Nobel laureate physicist Gerard 't Hooft gave a few informal remarks on the deep nature of reality.

A Mystery Wrapped in a Crystal

Scientists have shed new light on how these structures melt

More Information on Quantum Entanglement

See what scientists are doing to try to understand the deepest mystery of quantum physics

Space Is an Elaborate Illusion

Editor's Note: This post was intially published May 12 on the World Science Festival's Web site .My dad took a peculiar pleasure in fitting the maximum amount of stuff into the smallest possible space...

Space Shuttle Endeavour Launches Successfully on Its Final Mission

Editor's note: Updated at 12:15 P.M. KENNEDY SPACE CENTER—The space shuttle Endeavour took off on its final flight Monday morning at 8:56 A.M.

Why it scrubbed: NASA engineers troubleshoot Endeavour's electrical problems

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER—When NASA scrubbed the shuttle Endeavour 's final launch here on Friday, engineers said there was a best-case and a worst-case scenario.

Scrubbed! Space Shuttle Launch Delayed at Least 3 Days Due to Electrical Failure

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER—The shuttle Endeavour suffered a minor but potentially troublesome electrical failure that delayed its launch from Friday to Monday at the earliest.

Cosmic-Ray Detector on Space Shuttle Set to Scan Cosmos for Dark Matter

A fancy cosmic-ray detector, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, is about to scan the cosmos for dark matter, antimatter and more

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer Additional Resources

NASA's shuttle program counts down 'til the end

Is a geothermal heat pump right for you?

I've tried it all: caulking cracks, blowing in insulation, replacing drafty windows and—I'm especially proud of this one—installing a mail-slot cover so airtight it could be used in a space shuttle docking module...

Social networking and energy conservation: What went wrong?

A better kind of lightbulb?

This week, the lighting start-up company vu1 is beginning to ship a new type of lightbulb that could displace compact fluorescents and LED lamps as the energy-saving bulb of choice.

Do-it-yourself quantum spooky action

DRESDEN, Germany—How cool would it be not just to read about the craziness of quantum mechanics, but to see it—even better, do it—for yourself?

Looking for patterns in your electric use: The eMonitor home energy monitor

Last month, I wrote about the EcoDog home power monitoring system, which lets you see how much electricity your house is pulling, circuit by circuit.

Leif Robinson, 1939-2011: A pioneer of astronomy journalism