NASA's Ares 1-X Test: The View From Above

Cool video of NASA's Ares 1-X rocket test -- seen from above.

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November 5, 2009 in Adventure, Current Affairs, economy, Politics, Space | Permalink | User Comments (4)

The Yes Men

They say it helps to have a sense of humor in Washington. It helps elsewhere too, but Washington is a special case. Take the example of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce vs. The Yes Men -- one of America's most...

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October 29, 2009 in Current Affairs, economy, Politics, Science | Permalink | User Comments (2)

The Missing Link -- Not

Remember Ida? She was the 47-million-year-old fossil, found in Germany, promoted in May as "The Link" -- a very early ancestor of humans. Paleontologists now say that unless you're really into evolutionary biology, you can pretty much forget her.

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October 21, 2009 in Science | Permalink | User Comments (19)

Moon Crash Kicked Up Plume After All

Turns out the LCROSS lunar impact mission did kick up a plume of debris after all.

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October 19, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | User Comments (10)

Moon Crash: Where's the Water?

The lesson, perhaps, of Friday's lunar impact by NASA's LCROSS mission was to be careful what you wish for.

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October 13, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | User Comments (72)

Green Apple: Firm is Latest to Leave U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Apple is the latest company to resign from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, protesting its "extreme" position against fighting climate change.

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October 6, 2009 in Current Affairs, economy, Politics, Science | Permalink | User Comments (8)

Recovery.gov: Your Tax Dollars at Work

How to you keep track of $797 billion? When the stimulus package was passed last winter, the government promised that citizens would be able to use a new Web site, Recovery.gov, to find out where money was being sent. It...

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September 28, 2009 in Current Affairs, economy, Web/Tech | Permalink | User Comments (10)

Climate: Power Companies Quit U.S Chamber of Commerce

Electric companies, many of them with large investments in power plants that burn coal, oil or natural gas, might seem resistant at first glance to government mandates to control greenhouse gas emissions. But several have now been very public about...

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September 25, 2009 in Current Affairs, Politics, Science | Permalink | User Comments (5)

Ice on Mars: More Than They Ever Thought

Note to self: whenever you make a cool scientific finding, try not to do it on a day when there's an even cooler finding. Yesterday, while NASA was talking about those intriguing traces of water in the moon's soil, other...

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September 25, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | User Comments (11)

Red Mars, Black Mars

Why is Mars such a rusty red? For decades, scientists have assumed the answer was as simple as rust on Earth. The Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, established that the planet once was probably warm and wet, with standing pools...

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September 21, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | User Comments (15)