This Week in Science

Published on: 26th September, 2009

If you haven’t seen it yet, Phil posted a gorgeous pic of Saturn and linked to a much, much larger, glorious image of the ringed planet in golden dusky equinox. To be clear, you won’t get slammed with the huge image if you read the post, he just links to it, and oh baby, that larger image is worth checking out if you have the bandwidth to handle it! I’ve posted a few more equinox pics and Saturnian musings. Incidentally, Cassini-Huygens is the single most ambitious and costly planetary probe ever launched, and the entire fifteen-year mission will cost US taxpayers about what we spend in Iraq in a week or two.

On the subject of breathtaking cosmic porn, Ethan Seigal’s site Starts with a Bang is always chock full of superb images and explanations of what they mean.

Chris Mooney was on Morning Joe discussing the dismal state of science literacy in America and his latest book Unscientific America. Is it just me, or was the segment even better because Joe wasn’t there?

Several probes have found strong evidence for water on the moon. Which means the moon is a Not So Harsh Mistress:

It’s not just something to drink, it’s a potential source of breathable oxygen as well as a source of atomic hydrogen and oxygen for chemical production of all kinds of important substances. Rocket fuel is the most obvious…

Next month, the LCROSS will blast a plume off the moon visible from earth with a small telescope and, hopefully, settle the water question.

Wesley Elseberry’s wife Diane narrowly escaped a harrowing ordeal with a ferocious gator, head on over to read the terrifying story. More in Wesley’s diary. Why does the media love gator attacks so?

Any hard sci-fi readers out there? If so, Blindsight by Peter Watts is one of the most fun, imaginative, and at times chilling science fiction books I’ve ever read. Between the terrifying alien ship and occupants, cyberpunk astronauts and bioengineered vampires, this is one hell of a sci-fi thriller movie waiting to be made.