science

Read more about the article A Book Review: “The New Climate War”
Photo: Courtesy of NASA

A Book Review: “The New Climate War”

There is a new type of warrior emerging in the ongoing tussle between the evidence-based science of climate change and the diversionary tactics of fossil-fuel companies and political supporters. This rare but growing cohort in the winnable battle against climate change denial are scientists who can effectively communicate about complex science. They’re also willing to engage in pitched social media, news media, and other battles against the trolls, bots, and uber-conservative news outlets who are telling us to move along … nothing to see here. Photo: Courtesy of NASA One of the…

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Read more about the article The 50th anniversary of landing on the Moon – A personal reflection

The 50th anniversary of landing on the Moon – A personal reflection

It’s been a half century since we landed on the Moon. It was an important moment in my life and, I suspect, for millions of others. I have spent years studying the nine-year NASA program, leading up to the Apollo 11 landing on July 20, 1969. During that time, I have read hundreds of historical records, books, and other accounts of this amazing achievement for humankind, attempting to find some sort of personal meaning. I wrote about it in this Op Ed published last weekend in the Times-Union daily newspaper in Albany,…

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Read more about the article ‘I’m being followed by a Moon shadow…’

‘I’m being followed by a Moon shadow…’

(Headline: Lyric from "Moon Shadow," written and sung by Cat Stevens, 1971) It's Aug. 21, 2017, and much of the Western Hemisphere is glued to TVs, the sky, and computer screens. Let's meet our players for the afternoon's drama. First there's the sun, the fiery provider of heat and light to our precious planet. Our own personal star is hurtling through the cosmos at a relative speed of about 45,000 miles per hour. The second participant is our faithful satellite, the moon. At a distance of about 240,000 miles from its mother…

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Read more about the article Scientists gather in Boston to discuss research and battle anti-science political agenda
Detail of the surface of Pluto, from NASA' New Horizons space probe. 2016

Scientists gather in Boston to discuss research and battle anti-science political agenda

In the city that helped launched the great democracy experiment known as America, scientists from around the world gathered last month to discuss and share their latest research — and to draw battle lines against the ideological, anti-science platform of the new administration in Washington.

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