Category Archives: Science

Light Speed

Posted on January 26, 2014 by philipapelles

After learning about how fast light travels, I became curious to see if man could ever travel at such speeds. I realize that at today’s current level of technology it would be impossible to create a vehicle or shuttle capable of traveling that fast but I wanted to see if physics lent itself to the… Continue reading →

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Humans: Only Around for a Blink of an Eye

Posted on January 25, 2014 by hollyreichert

The universe has been around for 13.8 billion years.  In the grand scheme of things, this means that human life has only been around for the blink of an eye.  When 13.8 billion years is put into one calendar year, homo erectus does not appear until 10:48 pm on December 31.  All of our human […] Continue reading →

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Extremo-cool-creatures

Posted on May 1, 2013 by sharpew

Extreomophiles are mircobes that can survive in ‘extreme’ environments. Our knowledge of these life forms forces us to reconsider the possibility of life on other planets because environments that seem inhospitable to us humans are actually hospitable for these extremophiles. There are several known types of extremophiles: thermophilies that can withstand extremely high temperatures, psychrophiles that can […] Continue reading →

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A Grim Future, Brightened by the Stars

Posted on April 29, 2013 by burnspress

For my culminating post, I want to reflect on how my perspective on space and the future of astronomy has changed over the course of Astronomy 201. Firstly, everything I learned in this course, from gravity and planetary formation to stars and habitable zones, has given me a fundamental and scientifically realistic understanding of space […] Continue reading →

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The Drake Equation – A Scientific Shot in the Dark

Posted on April 28, 2013 by marknshirleyvu

The Drake Equation is an incredibly interesting topic of discussion.  Obviously, determining the number of communicating civilizations in our galaxy is a monumental task.  Because of the sheer size of the problem, the fact that a simple equation can bring us anywhere close to a reasonable guess is in itself very impressive.  As impressive as […] Continue reading →

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Holes and Wrinkles

Posted on April 28, 2013 by ibrahim2016

There is a lot of misconception about two of the more arcane forms of proposed space travel: Warp Drives and Worm Holes. They work on the same principles but function in wholly different ways. General Relativity explains that any mass or energy can bend space and time. Since there is energy everywhere space and time […] Continue reading →

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Earth-like planet discovered

Posted on April 27, 2013 by charlesbcochran

Very recently, on April 23 of this year, astronomer Eric Agol has discovered a very Earth-like planet 1,200 light years away. Through a very complex algorithm Agol had created, he had found this planet orbiting a star in a habitable … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Is Cold the New Hot?

Posted on April 17, 2013 by ibrahim2016

Yes. A few days back, a friend shared an article with me. It talked of how scientists had managed to achieve temperatures below absolute zero. Does it mean that temperature has to be redefined? Has our understanding of thermodynamics been flawed for the past hundred years. No, it turns out. It is all a matter […] Continue reading →

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Gravitational Slingshots

Posted on April 10, 2013 by ibrahim2016

I always wondered why doesn’t the sun slow space probes down when they are leaving the Earth for outer planets. Isn’t there a risk that the probe might change its trajectory and fall into the sun? There is. You see, the more distant the space probe gets from the Sun, the more potential energy it […] Continue reading →

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NASA Pinpoints Cause of 2011 Arctic Ozone Hole

Posted on March 20, 2013 by jacksonlangham

The causes of ozone depletion are ozone destroying chemical reactions (CFCs), frigid temperatures, and sunlight. Both poles undergo ozone depletion during the winter months, but the Arctic’s ozone typically experiences […] Continue reading →

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