"...I'm here to present to you - not lectures that are part of some curriculum; but in fact, I've combed the universe for my favorite subjects, and I'm going to spend twelve lectures bringing those favorite subjects to you." Renowned astrophysicist and television host
Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses the various aspects of our universe in twelve separate half-hour long lectures (MLYT).
[more inside]
posted by Evernix
on Nov 26, 2011 -
40 comments
The "
Great Filter" is a hypothetical barrier to explain why civilisations are so unlikely to progress to the point of inter-stellar colonisation that we have not encountered any in 40 years of looking. Maybe humanity has already negotiated the filter - as some massive evolutionary improbability - or perhaps it lies in our future as an almost-certain threat to our existence?
We should hold our breath as we look for evidence of life on Mars.
posted by rongorongo
on May 12, 2008 -
85 comments
Prominent cosmologist Simon D.M. White has written a provocative
paper posted to the astrophysics arxiv complaining that too much time is being devoted to the quest to understand the nature of the
elusive dark energy: "Dark Energy is undeniably an interesting problem to attack through astronomical observation, but it is one of many and not necessarily the one where significant progress is most likely to follow a major investment of resources."
He worries generally that observational cosmology/astrophysics/astronomy may turn away from the construction of instruments of general utility (such as the
Hubble Space Telescope), to concentrate on a small number of massive experiments narrowly focused on solving particular problems (such as
WMAP and the
Large Hadron Collider), to the detriment of the
"quirky small-science" type of astronomy.
posted by snoktruix
on Apr 21, 2007 -
8 comments
The Pioneer Anomaly. Something's up in deep space: the
Pioneer spacecraft, now out of contact, have shown an unexplained Doppler drift, indicating sunward acceleration, effectively decelerating the probes cumulatively. The effect may be be nongravitational, and could be explained by any number of factors: an undiscovered twist in Newtonian physics, localized cosmological contraction issues, or just venting gas. Other deep space probes may have experienced the anomaly as well, and
a new mission could explore the puzzle; but for now, all we have is past Pioneer data, and that's stored on old
9 track tape which can only be read by antique readers. What's to be done? (Also see
Pioneer Odyssey for a nostalgic romp through those early days of deep space exploration. And NASA, bring back the
original Pioneer home page plz, kthx.)
posted by brownpau
on Jun 13, 2005 -
21 comments
So you think the expansion of the universe is accelerating?
Think again! (Contains links to full paper in .pdf etc.)
posted by stuporJIX
on Dec 21, 2001 -
2 comments
When NASA scientists watch Michael Bay films, comedy ensues. 'The technology is not at all far-fetched,' said Dr Greg Laughlin, of the Nasa Ames Research Center in California. 'It involves the same techniques that people now suggest could be used to deflect asteroids or comets heading towards Earth. We don't need raw power to move Earth, we just require delicacy of planning and manoeuvring.'
Oh yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong with
this plan. I'm not being a Luddite here...I realize the scientists involved aren't going to be doing this any time soon, if ever. It still spooks me, though.
posted by Ezrael
on Jun 11, 2001 -
14 comments
