Sometimes perspective can play strange tricks
In this image, Titan (the orange satellite) appears to be much smaller than Dione (the gray moon). However, this is…
What is a nuclear thermal rocket?
Nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) is a type of thermal rocket where the heat from a nuclear reaction, often nuclear fission,…
Standard Model: The Absolutely Amazing Theory of Almost Everything
The Standard Model. What a dull name for the most accurate scientific theory known to human beings. More than a…
Have you ever wondered what would be the point of being born with a brain?
The answer is perhaps more abstract than logical. The brain, weighing just one kilogram, is the most sophisticated and complex…
Where Did Earth’s Oxygen Come From?
Today, around 21 percent of Earth’s atmosphere is made up of oxygen. But our planet’s atmosphere took time to develop…
What are carbon nanotubes?
Carbon nanotubes are tubes made of carbon with diameters typically measured in nanometers. Carbon nanotubes often refer to single-wall carbon…
Black hole devoured a star decades ago and it was only discovered now
Traces of a black hole ‘s “meal” were identified in a dataset from the 1980s, thanks to two high school…
Clouds around our local supermassive black hole
This image taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) shows the region surrounding Sagittarius A* , the supermassive black…
What is the zero-point energy?
Zero-point energy is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical system may have. Unlike in classical mechanics, quantum systems…
A globular cluster lost in the immensity of space
It is known as the Intergalactic Wanderer and it is not difficult to understand why: the globular cluster photographed in…