Topic: Pamela Gay
A Brief History of Community Science, Part 2

A Brief History of Community Science, Part 2

The landing page for a new community science platform. Join us at mappers.psi.edu! Back in the spring of 1999, while one part of the internet focused in on still unpatched Y2K bugs, another, often overlapping part of the internet focused in on something much more fun - the search for extraterrestrial life. The BOINC project at U Cal Berkeley had released a new screensaver designed to use computers that would otherwise be sleeping to process radio astronomy data for the kinds of patterns that could indicate alien life. I have to admit, my computer was deeply engaged in processing my...

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Astronauts dive into Mk-2 Training

Astronauts dive into Mk-2 Training

Recent aerospace news hasn’t been the happiest, but there was one moment of watery goodness I’d like to share.  On June 10, Blue Origin shared a video taken at the Johnson Space Center’s Neutral Buoyancy Tank that shows astronauts climbing around in and on a...

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...

CERN did Alchemy, turning Lead to Gold

CERN did Alchemy, turning Lead to Gold

Reaction for lead to transmute into gold. Credit: CERN Showing that alchemy is possible if you have a big enough particle accelerator, researchers using the Large Hadron Collider have managed, not entirely on purpose, to transform Lead into Gold. According to a press...

Aurora Alert: Neptune & Jupiter

Aurora Alert: Neptune & Jupiter

Aurora on Neptune shine along the right side of the planet in Webb's IR images (right). Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Heidi Hammel (AURA), Henrik Melin (Northumbria University), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Stefanie Milam (NASA-GSFC) Earth isn’t the only...

1 year ago this week: Aurorae!

1 year ago this week: Aurorae!

Aurorae from Bethalto, Illinois . Credit: Pamela L Gay A year ago this week, on May 10-13, 2024, the Sun triggered an amazing series of auroras that were visible to folks living in the mid-latitudes. Those amazing few nights - and another set of events in October 2024...