There’s a new paper in Nature announcing the detection of water vapor in the atmosphere of a “hot Jupiter” orbiting a distant star. There’s also a story on Physics Web and a press release from the Spitzer Telescope group, if you’d like some stuff you can read without a subscription to Nature. The idea here… Continue reading Water, Water, Everywhere
Category: In the News
“Nuking” Food: Still a Metaphor
The Paper of Record, unafraid to tackle the really important questions, today addresses the perennial favorite: Is it dangerous to stand near a microwave oven? You’ll be happy to know that the answer is still “No.” I would’ve preferred “No, you dolt,” but you take what you can get: Although microwave ovens can in fact… Continue reading “Nuking” Food: Still a Metaphor
Trust Me About the Sunscreen
Just in time to drive parents into a panic for the rest of the summer, the New York Times has a big article about sunscreen: Dr. [James] Spencer [a dermatologist in Florida] said that an S.P.F. 15 product screens about 94 percent of UVB rays while an S.P.F. 30 product screens 97 percent. Manufacturers determine… Continue reading Trust Me About the Sunscreen
Serious News from Outer Space
There have been a number of true and non-silly stories about astronomy and cosmology recently, which I’ll collect here as penance for the earlier silly post: Some theorists at Penn State have constructed a Loop Quantum Gravity model that they claim allows for an oscillating universe with no singularities. In one of those psychology-of-the-press moments,… Continue reading Serious News from Outer Space
Amateur Hour
Between the concert last night and an afternoon cookout at the house of one of Kate’s co-workers, we were out of the house for most of the day yesterday. This means light blogging today, as I struggle to deal with the stuff I really should’ve done yesterday. I do want to note, though, the New… Continue reading Amateur Hour
Good News From Outer Space
Steinn checks in from his Mediterranean vacation with not one, not two, but three reports from the conference on Extreme Solar Systems, and a hint of maybe more to come. The big news here, as far as I can see, is that they’re starting to find more low mass planets, and more planets with long… Continue reading Good News From Outer Space
“Open the Pod Bay Doors, HAL”
As a science fiction fan, when I see a dramatic headline like Computer Flaw Could Imperil Space Station, I can’t help thinking of murderous AI’s. Sadly, the real problem is much more prosaic: The [International Space Station] depends on Russian and American computer systems to maintain the attitude of the station as it orbits the… Continue reading “Open the Pod Bay Doors, HAL”
Life Cycle of Science PR
One of the fun things about EurekAlert is that it allows you to trace the full life cycle of the publicization of science in a way that used to be impossible for a regular person. For example, take the recent “Ring of Dark Matter” story. First, there’s a rumor of a result. This first stage… Continue reading Life Cycle of Science PR
Thrilling Tales of Astrophysics
Over in LiveJournal Land, James Nicoll is pining for the good old days: I’m going through one of my “I would kill for some new SF” phases, SF in this case being defined in a narrow and idiosyncratic way. In particular, I want the modern version of those old SF stories where SF writers, having… Continue reading Thrilling Tales of Astrophysics
New Rocky Planet
I have two labs on Tuesdays, which is even more exhausting than it sounds, so I went to be early last night. And woke up to find a whole new planet. You guys need to give me some warning about these things… Anyway, the planet in question orbits a red dwarf star a mere 20… Continue reading New Rocky Planet