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Source of Mystery Antimatter Found
There’s a large cloud of antimatter lurking out in space, and researchers have long wondered where it came from. An international team examining four years’ worth of data from the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL satellite has identified the positrons as originating from stars being eaten by black holes and neutron stars. Is it just me,…
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Russia Joins Europa Mission
Russia has joined a planned mission to search for life on Europa. The LaPlace mission is supposed to launch some time between 2015 and 2025. Link
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Stross’ “Heinlein Tribute Novel”
Charles Stross talks about his new book, Saturn’s Children, on the Penguin Books blog: I never met Mr. Heinlein, but I’ve felt his ghost breathing down my neck periodically, ever since I began writing science fiction. And I must admit, I resent it. Link (via SF Signal)
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Tom Swift Movie to be Made (She Said Theatrically)
Tom Swift, the early-1900s boy genius, is coming to the big screen. The series has been optioned by Nickelodeon’s Albert Hecht, who’s behind the Jimmy Neutron cartoon. Since the series has run so long–it’s ghostwritten–Tom’s had a number of continuity reboots to keep his technology current: The first book was Tom Swift and His Motorcycle,…
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Possible Alternate Universe Found
Back in August, astronomers reported the discovery of a huge hole, a billion light-years across, in the constellation Eridanus. Now, theoretical physicist and cosmologist Laura Mersini-Houghton and her colleagues are claiming that the hole is an “unmistakable imprint of another universe beyond the edge of our own.” No word on whether Spock has a beard…
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Tunguska Crater May Have Been Found
The thing that whacked into Russia in 1908 may have fragmented, and part of it might be responsible for the nearby Lake Cheko. This new study raises about as many questions as it solves, particularly why there’s evidence of only one fragment. Still, neat. Link
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Vote for Real Science
A pseudoscience blog called “Climate Audit” is currently in the lead to win a Best Science Blog award because influential conservative sites are asking their readers to vote for it whether they read it or not. It’s a denialist blog that argues humans have no responsibility for global warming and promotes political ideas as “science.”…
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Depicting Exoplanets
Here’s a neat article from Scientific American: When a new extrasolar planet is discovered, how do the artists illustrate a planet they’ve never seen? When astronomers make a sexy new discovery that doesn’t lend itself easily to visual inspection, they turn to artists like [Lynette] Cook to bring it to life. A compelling image has…
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CA Wildfires
DerHexer forwarded this note from Gandalara: Writing this quick before I lose power again. The remains of my neighbors’ 2 trees are in my driveway and front yard. Power outages and can’t go to work (MSJC) – never even tried to go on the road Monday. College is closed – air-conditioning units were blown off…
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O*W*C Message Boards Currently Disabled
It’s been pretty rare for legitimate users to post in the boards lately, and I’m getting three or four bogus signups every day. I’m temporarily disabling the boards until the spammers decide to go play elsewhere. If you’ve got news you’d like to post, please e-mail