A Rocky World, Far, Far Away

500 light-years away, in the constellation of Monoceros the Unicorn, European scientists say there is an unremarkable star called CoRoT-7. Last year they deduced that there was at least one planet orbiting it. And today, they report, it is one...

Continue reading "A Rocky World, Far, Far Away"

September 16, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | User Comments (16)

Space Shuttle Dodges a (Big) Bullet

The astronauts of the space shuttle Discovery woke up a little while ago, and Houston told them to go on with their lives as if nothing was happening. A piece of a European Ariane 5 rocket, launched three years ago...

Continue reading "Space Shuttle Dodges a (Big) Bullet"

September 3, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | User Comments (5)

California Burning

If you live outside southern California, and you want an idea of why the wildfires there are such news, take a look from above. This image, shot by NASA's Aqua satellite, shows a plume of smoke that extends diagonally northeast...

Continue reading "California Burning"

September 1, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | User Comments (4)

Mars as Big as the Moon -- Not

Mars as big as the Moon? I hate to clog your computer with spam, but this one is going around again, so it's worth a mention. "The Red Pla!net is a bout to be spectacular!" says the headline of an...

Continue reading "Mars as Big as the Moon -- Not"

August 29, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (6)

What Kids Search For When They Search the Web

Symantec, the Internet security giant, sells a service called OnlineFamily.Norton, which allows parents to monitor and control their children's online activity. It also allows Symantec to compile statistics -- such as what it is that those children search for when...

Continue reading "What Kids Search For When They Search the Web"

August 13, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (23)

Conficker Strikes…Or Does it?

You remember the Conficker worm, don't you? Well? If you don't, or if you're going, "Oh, yeah, that thing," maybe that's good. The Conficker botnet, a devilishly well-written piece of rogue computer code that threatened ominously to do something undefined...

Continue reading " Conficker Strikes…Or Does it?"

August 4, 2009 in Web/Tech | Permalink | User Comments (9)

How to Spoil Your Vacation

A clever American writer once noted that in the days before Global Positioning System locators were widely available, you might know exactly where you were, but have no idea where you were going. In the brave new world of GPS,...

Continue reading "How to Spoil Your Vacation"

July 28, 2009 | Permalink | User Comments (10)

'Subject: For sale one lunar rover'

The Scientist, an often-provocative life-sciences magazine, says the following classified ad was really posted on its site: "For sale one Lunar Rover $500,000.00 no offers. One careful owner low mileage buyer collects. Cash offer and I will throw in a...

Continue reading "'Subject: For sale one lunar rover'"

July 24, 2009 in Space | Permalink | User Comments (13)

Jupiter Dusts Self Off, Gets Back to Work

Whatever hit Jupiter last weekend, it has a lot of Jovians hopping mad, and a lot of astronomers on Earth trying to figure out what happened. There are new images of the Earth-size scar where something -- perhaps a small...

Continue reading "Jupiter Dusts Self Off, Gets Back to Work"

July 23, 2009 in Science, Space | Permalink | User Comments (12)

National Historic Site

40 years after Apollo 11 went to the moon, NASA is back with a ship called Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO -- and one of its first assignments was to look for what Apollo left behind. Each of the Apollo...

Continue reading "National Historic Site"

July 17, 2009 in History, Space | Permalink | User Comments (55)