January was another great month here at Anthonares.net. Space science and energy seemed to be the big topics this month, with a little bit of space policy and exploration thrown in as well. Also, I am a new permanent contributor over at DamnInteresting.com and I will be linking over to articles I write there that I think my readers here might be interested in. So there are a few of those as well. Coming up next month: more energy discussion thanks in part to the President’s State of the Union Agenda, and probably a bit more on science education as well.
Published Research Synopses
- The Mars Express radar instrument (MARSIS) revealed some tantalizing hints of ice-filled craters
- Particle physicists at the Fermi National Laboratory (Fermilab) were unable to detect the Higgs Boson in their latest results
- To the world’s complete surprise, living plants give off methane, too. The result has big implications for carbon mitigation strategies involving planting forests.
- Martian climate simulations suggest that mid-latitude glaciers very well could have formed on Mars at periods in the not-so-distant past.
- An increase in extraterrestrial atomic isotopes in the geologic record spurred these researchers to look into the possibility of a dust shower caused by asteroid breakup.
- Astronomers detected a relatively small, cold planet circling what’s probably a red dwarf star about 20,000 light years away.
- In a review paper, the authors detail the progress we’ve made and that which still needs to happen before we can exploit biomass as an energy-positive carbon-neutral fuel and materials source.
Opinion
- I discussed scientific fraud and the responsibility of peer-reviewed journals. Some people will always try to game the system.
- The failure of the levees in New Orleans looks like it may have been the result of poor engineering and maintenance. Yet the Army Corps is being allowed to investigate itself. We deserve an independent investigation of why taxpayers are going to pay hundreds of billions of dollars.
- For some the success of NASA’s Stardust mission became a chance to grind the old robotic vs. human exploration axe. I argued that robotic exploration only makes sense if human exploration is also being pursued.
- The website NASA Watch is a friend of NASA’s employees but a bitter critic of its Administrator. Here I discuss how that kind of entrenched establishment thinking will ultimately lead to NASA’s demise.
In the News
- I became a big fan of Seed Magazine
- NASA scientists published an article in the journal Science explaining how certain critical orbital altitudes are now choked with junk that form a self-renewing cloud of debris.
- Orson Scott Card, the well-known science fiction author (whom I revere), dabbles in a little bit of fictional science as well with an inflammatory and puerile attack on supporters of evolution.
- The Space Review, the premier on-line space policy magazine, publishes great work each Monday.
- An article in Physics Today discusses why so-called body-on-frame trucks (i.e. pickups and large SUVs) are extremely dangerous projectiles on the road.
- I condemn our military’s use of hostage taking in order to secure the surrender of suspects in Iraq.
Informative Articles
- I wrote about an idea to do Vertical Farming in skyscrapers in dense urban centers.
- Finding myself confused about nuclear proliferation and the issues surrounding Iran’s latest moves, I researched and published a short guide.
- NASA’s Stardust space probe successfully returned its samples to Earth. Find out how you can become an Amateur Astregeochemist
- Every year the North American International Auto Show visits Detroit, near my home town. This year I visited with a camera and a notepad to see what hybrids and other fuel-efficient vehicles the world’s auto companies had to offer.
- NASA’s New Horizons mission set out for Pluto in the spirit of the Voyagers before it. Here I provide an in-depth review of the mission’s objectives and instruments, and a bit of its hisotry.
- Nuclear fusion energy promises to solve the world’s energy needs forever. So why isn’t it here yet? Find out where we are in fusion energy research with this summary.
- Nuclear fission energy has been around for decades, and sparks a lot of protest even today. But its record of safety and cleanliness are unmatched by any other energy type capable of providing the bulk of our energy needs. We need to expand nuclear energy with the latest technologies, summarized here.
DamnInteresting.com Articles
- I wrote about the Long Now Foundation’s Clock in an article entitled New Year’s Eve 11999
- Artificial islands seem to be springing up everywhere as landfills, airports, and swank resorts. Learn a bit about their history and uses in Your Own (Man-Made) Private Island
