Topic: Pamela Gay
The Fermi Paradox at 75

The Fermi Paradox at 75

Enrico Fermi. Credit: Liz Zonarich / Harvard Staff The idea that bad things happen to good solar systems is a recurring theme in science fiction, with everything from natural disasters, to biological disasters, to disasters of life’s own making wiping out worlds in book after book. While often these really bad days for alien worlds are just a way of moving the plot forward, they also speak to one of the weirder aspects of the reality we deal with - as far as we know, we are alone in this universe. As of this recording, on June 12, there is no clear evidence of alien civilizations. Yes,...

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Get Ready for Spooky Season

Get Ready for Spooky Season

credit NASA Around our parent collaboration, CosmoQuest, Halloween is, hands-down, the most beloved season of the year. Costumes are worn. Yards are decorated. We are here for all the strangers that knock on our door - the weirdos, the witches, and the oh-so-many...

The State of Climate Change

The State of Climate Change

Extreme Weather. Credit: NOAA As human beings, we have infinite capacity for empathy. We also have the capacity to be blind to what is going on in the world around us. This dichotomy is why some people see the Sarah MacLachlan ASPCA ads and donate, others click to...

Janus: White Dwarf Edition

Janus: White Dwarf Edition

The results of science are often weirder than anything humans can imagine. As researchers, we dedicate our lives to taking data and knowing that whatever we may want to believe, we have to accept the reality of what our data shows us.  And sometimes the data is...

A new kind of star is discovered

A new kind of star is discovered

An artist’s impression of the ultra-long period magnetar—a rare type of star with extremely strong magnetic fields that can produce powerful bursts of energy. Credit: ICRAR. The more we look at the universe, the more we’ll be able to find rare and wonderful things. In...

Dark “Stars” or galaxies?

Dark “Stars” or galaxies?

JWST initially identified these three objects (JADES-GS-z13-0, JADES-GS-z12-0 and JADES-GS-z11-0) as galaxies in December 2022. Now a team suggests they might be “dark stars,” theoretical objects powered by particles of dark matter annihilating. Credit: NASA/ESA We...

(Big-)Moonless worlds have unstable tilts

(Big-)Moonless worlds have unstable tilts

Modern-day Mars experiences cyclical changes in climate and, consequently, ice distribution. Unlike Earth, the obliquity (or tilt) of Mars changes substantially on timescales of hundreds of thousands to millions of years. At present day obliquity of about 25-degree...

Perseverance collects a River of Science

Perseverance collects a River of Science

Jezero Crater as Seen by ESA's Mars Express Orbiter: This image shows the remains of an ancient delta in Mars' Jezero Crater, which NASA's Perseverance Mars rover will explore for signs of fossilized microbial life. Credit: NASA The remnants of ancient dunes aren’t...

How Rivers Flow: Here, Mars & Titan

How Rivers Flow: Here, Mars & Titan

This false-color image shows Titan’s second-largest body of liquid, Ligeia Mare, in the moon’s northern hemisphere. Scientists think that rivers flowing into large bodies of liquids like this one should form deltas. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/Cornell New research...