Category: Astro(physics)
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Virtual Reality, Zero-G and yet more wonders: NASA has it all.
When thinking about VR (Virtual Reality) a lot of things come to mind – to me, videogames are the first, followed by other, more…
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Does size matter for life? Giant and tiny exoplanets
Post number five in the exoplanet series, covering this time the important aspect of size. (In case you are interested to other variables examined so…
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Seven hours of terror for space lovers – Rosetta on stage (again)
This November week brings us an exciting space event to follow, unique in kind. ESA’s spacecraft Rosetta, that has successfully reached Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko last August,…
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Writing about space and physics for other blogs / 3
The usual update about my latest published articles on other blogs/magazines – these ones on from Serious Wonder. This time I have only included the…
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When SF and science work together: Dyson spheres and black holes (thanks, Interstellar).
That SF has anticipated and/or even come out in first instance with some of the most creative ideas now seriously considered for scientific research is nothing new.…
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Star Gallery: the beautiful Pleaides
If there is a space object I have always found incredibly beautiful is the star cluster of the Pleiades – alternatively called M45, or…
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A technical wonder: NASA Spitzer’s 360-D Map of the Milky Way
If there is something difficult to realise is how vast space is. No matter how hard we try, as humans we lack mental categories…
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The visitor from the Oort Cloud
This Sunday Earthians will witness something truly unique, estimated to happen maybe once every million years: a comet the size of a small mountain will…
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The importance of a correct worldbuilding: Lagrangian points
Astrophysics has to make sense, especially in a SF book. When designing your fictional worlds you need to make sure things can survive on their own,…
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Bosons and X-Rays – Hear the sound of natural particles
I have posted a while ago something about the music of space – ie, the eerie sounds celestial bodies make when translated into plasma…
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Under a bloody moon
Today (or tonight, depending of your timezone) lucky people in North-America and part of Asia could watch one of the most beautiful shows known in…
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Moonwalk and conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories are like religion – they are a matter of faith, not reason (you may argue about religion: in this case, please get…
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Ice cold or blazing hot? Extreme exoplanets
Post number four in the exoplanet series. Among variables considered so far, planetary habitability, age and distance have taken the spotlight. Today I’m going to…
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The (Seven) Wonders of the Solar System
I have read some days ago a nice article on IO9 discussing the Seven Wonders of the Solar System – from the original Seven Wonders…
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Amazing videos about space
Thanks to internet you have now access to a quantity of high-quality materials about space and stars simply unbelievable. You have only to browse…
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Get some science in your SF. What to do if…
… you have no idea how and maths scared you since third grade. Some days ago I was chatting with a friend of mine. He…
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Writing about space for other blogs / 2
My latest published articles on Serious Wonder. Incidentally, there are also a few more on space and SF posted by other contributors – I do recommend having…
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Photogenic (Exo)planets
Keeping on the exoplanet series, after the general introduction and the presentation of the oldest one (so far) discovered, today I am going to address another…
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Name the planet of your dreams
Ever fancied naming a star – or even better a planet? If you are a SF author, that’s easy thing. (And actually there are hundreds of…
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Meeting Methuselah
Some weeks ago I talked about the incredible variety of exoplanets, which we have just began to discover. I have also mentioned what we normally find and we…
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Writing about space for other blogs
I have started since a couple of months or so to contribute to a great blog called Serious Wonder, one of the most innovative…
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EXOPLANETS 101 – Learning the basics
I have already spoken a few times here about the challenges of worldbulding in SF, both in terms of designing working planetary systems –…
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The Drake Equation – Why do we still bother?
“Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way…
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Playing the Death Star – creation and demise of star systems
Ever desired to destroy entire planetary systems? Now you can, with the online game Super Planet Crash, available (and playable) at http://www.stefanom.org/spc. You may…