Fun with Gravitational Waves
Even the Earth – sun system radiates gravitational waves, but just how powerful are they?...
"space"
The Austere Beauty of Other Worlds
In the northern winter months we are surrounded by the stark beauty of chilled landscapes. From the darkness of the far north, broken perhaps only by starlight and the glow of aurora, to the brisk grey streets of Manhattan and its now skeletal trees with their claw-like limbs and knobbly stubs pressed to the skies, [...]..
Welcome to Life, Unbounded: The Science of Origins
On December 24th, 1968 the crew of Apollo 8 became the first humans to bear direct witness to our planet, the Earth, rising above the horizon of another world.
The Evolution of a Scientific American Information Graphic: Stellar Life Cycle
As the art director of information graphics at Scientific American, I’m charged with developing explanatory art for some pretty mind-blowing topics.
The Black Hole in Interstellar Looks Amazingly Realistic
Wired has a fun piece about physicist and black-hole guru Kip Thorne's work on the film Interstellar, which comes out November 7. We've known the premise of the film for a long time: Earth is a disaster, the human race is on the verge of extinction, and mankind must find a new home...
Culture Dish: Promoting Diversity in Science Writing
The most persistent — and infuriating — question about diversity in science writing has to be: "Why do we need diversity?" Sometimes that question is followed by this: "Isn't science color-blind?" To answer that second question first — no, science is most definitely not color-blind, any more than history or politics or literature is color-blind...
A Paper Puppet Homage to Microbes
The amazing power duo of Flora Lichtman and Sharon Shattuck (Sweet Fern Productions) has come out with a new animated short on the discovery of microbes.
Are Scientists on the Cusp of Knowing How Weird We Are?
I’m writing this post for two reasons. One is to recommend a new book by Columbia astrobiologist Caleb Scharf (who also writes a terrific Scientific American blog, “Life, Unbounded“), and the other is to defend an old book of mine...
The Human Cost of Science: Stephen Hawking and The Theory of Everything
This week’s video is a preview for the movie ‘The Theory of Everything’, which premiered last week to North American audiences.
Generation Open: Sneak Peek Into Science’s Future at OpenCon 2014
“What is your generation going to do? You don’t have a choice. You will make a mark. Will it be the mark of apathy? Or will you make the internet what it could be?” Michael Carroll is a Professor of Law and one of the founders of the Creative Commons...
That Comet? That's You, 4.5 Billion Years Ago
As the European Space Agency’s Philae lander bounced and settled onto the surface of comet 67P/C-G’s crumbly nucleus it wasn’t just space exploration, it was time travel...
Planet Hunters Bet Big on a Small Telescope to See Alien Earths
In 1990, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft briefly looked back from its journey out of the solar system, capturing a view of the faraway Earth. Carl Sagan called it the "pale blue dot." From more than 6 billion kilometers away, beyond the orbit of Pluto, it seemed remarkable that our planet was even visible...
Obama Asks Astronaut for Instagrams from Space During State of the Union
President Obama made a rare shout-out to space in Tuesday's State of the Union Address, referencing NASA's recent Orion capsule launch and addressing astronaut Scott Kelly in the audience at the Capitol...
NASA's Dawn Mission Captures New Image of Dwarf Planet Ceres
NASA’s Dawn mission, having performed remarkably at the asteroid Vesta, is homing in on Ceres. The spacecraft’s ion engines will bring it to a capture orbit around this 590 mile diameter dwarf planet on March 6th, 2015 – at a distance some 2.5 times further from the Sun than the Earth...
Elmo Talks with Scientific American about Tomorrow’s Orion Crew Capsule Launch [Video]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—The press site here at Kennedy Space Center is buzzing with media, top NASA brass, and at least one celebrity of the furry sort: Elmo.
Intel Upgrades Stephen Hawking's Portal to the World
Movie audiences who went to theaters this fall to see The Theory of Everything got a glimpse of the challenges physicist Stephen Hawking has overcome to deliver his groundbreaking insights into the nature of black holes, space and time...
Welcome to Basic Space!
Welcome to Basic Space. For those who read my blog before (all three of you…), this is going to be much the same, only bigger and better.
Good Microbes make Good Pets
THIS is good scicomm. Why? Well, for many reasons - good writing, good sound, good editing - but by far the most apparent, the reason most people will sit up and take note is because of the strong visuals...
Welcome to PsiVid
Your PsiVid hosts, Carin Bondar and Joanne Manaster, will be watching the world of science film and video, and sharing our great finds with science enthusiasts like you.
Steve Fuller and the Value of Intellectual Provocation
Philosopher Daniel Dennett once asked: Would you rather be remembered for being right about something, or for being “original and provocative”?
