Hollywood seems to thrive on doomsday scenarios. From an asteroid on a collision course with Earth to genetic therapy gone awry to catastrophic solar… read more

“Hear Me Now? ‘Strong Signal’ from Sun-like Star Sparks Alien Speculation” —CNN … read more

A few weeks ago, I discussed the possibility of finding habitable planets in binary star systems. Just a couple days ago, astronomers announced the… read more

Want to stir up some controversy? Just make some definitive statement about global warming, either good or bad. Chances are high that someone will… read more

t’s an iconic scene from Star Wars. Luke Skywalker’s family just acquired two droids with knowledge of the rebellion. While cleaning… read more

The last 25 years has brought a veritable flood of exoplanets. Some of those finds include Jupiter-class planets that take just a few days to… read more

Growing up, I loved catching fireflies (or lightning bugs). Truth be told, I still do. What’s not to like about a bug whose rear-end glows on… read more

The universe started with a bang nearly 14 billion years ago. The solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago. Even the continents have been around for… read more

It seems that all too frequently we read another exciting announcement that an extrasolar planet has been detected, one that is in the… read more

The third most abundant molecule in the universe has the most well-known chemical formula—H2O, or water. No one disputes the utility of oxygen… read more

What are the two most known chemical compounds? Clearly water (H2O) takes first place, but with all the discussion of global warming, carbon dioxide… read more

The northern and southern lights (aurora borealis and aurora australis) splash colorful lights onto the sky, aweing spectators; but this display is… read more

Is Earth special? A large fraction of the scientific community doesn’t think so. In fact, most have adopted the Copernican principle, believing… read more

Are we alone? … read more