Play the pipes slowly for Atlantis, Endeavor, and Discovery. In 2010, NASA will retire its old workhorses for good.
The shuttering of the shuttle program leaves American space exploration in an awkward situation. The next generation of spacecraft, dubbed the Constellation Project, will not be operable until at least 2015. For the intervening five years, the [...]
In Space, No One Can Hear You Scheme
One Cappuccino– Hold the Sun
Growing coffee in the shade may be the smartest way for small farmers to cope with global warming, according to research published in this month’s issue of BioScience. University of Michigan scientists concluded that the industrial method of coffee cultivation, where swaths of forest are cut down to create large plantations, leaves the crop vulnerable [...]
A “Superdove” Takes Flight
Crosspost: I have a new article up on Science Metropolis, a wonderful site run by fellow BU Science Journalism student Joseph Caputo. It’s about pigeons (my article, not the site). Click here to toss a few breadcrumb-sized hits our way.
Fake Plastic Trees
A tree is growing at Cornell University. Unlike the English elms, Japanese maple, and swamp oaks lining the Ithaca campus, this specimen is about seven centimeters tall and made of plastic. It is a synthetic tree, the brainchild of two biomolecular engineers, and the first man-made system able to mimic the powerful pumping capability [...]
It Came From the Center of the Galaxy!
Deep in the heart of the Milky Way lurks an ever-hungry force, consuming planets, stars, and nebulae with voracious appetite. The monster in question is Sagittarius A*, thought to be the location of a massive black hole. Its 25,000 light year distance from Earth and relatively tiny size make SgrA* difficult to observe. A [...]
