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space

SPACE: Garbage Problem in Orbit is Getting Worse

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space garbage - NASA

Before humans first started sending objects into Earth orbit, the pocket of space around our planet was clear and clean. But the launch of Sputnik 1 in October of 1957 changed everything. Since then, the space debris has been accumulating, with the amount of useless, defunct satellites vastly outnumbering the operational objects in our orbit. A new annual report from the European Space Agency (ESA) has found that while we have become aware of the problem and taken steps in recent years to mitigate it, those steps are currently not keeping up with the sheer scale of space junk. All … Read more

SPACE: Astronomers Watch Black Hole Turn Star Into Spaghetti

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spaghetti - pixabay

A black hole in a galaxy not far from Earth gobbled up a star like it was a big, exploding noodle, and astronomers got a front-row seat to the action. The “unfortunate star,” as the researchers called it in their paper, was orbiting in the dense nucleus of a galaxy with the unwieldy name 2MASX J04463790-1013349 about 214 million years ago when it found itself on a doomed path. It had wandered too close to the galaxy’s central, supermassive black hole. And that black hole stretched it out like spaghetti and swallowed it one big gulp. (Scientists literally call this … Read more

Astrophysicists Figure Out How Much Stuff There Is

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universe - pixabay

The stuff that makes up our universe is tricky to measure, to put it mildly. We know that most of the universe’s matter-energy density consists of dark energy, the mysterious unknown force that’s driving the universe’s expansion. And we know that the rest is matter, both normal and dark. Accurately figuring out the proportions of these three is a challenge, but researchers now say they’ve performed one of the most precise measurements yet to determine the proportion of matter. According to their calculations, normal matter and dark matter combined make up 31.5 percent of the matter-energy density of the universe. … Read more

FOR READERS & WRITERS: Space Dogs!

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space dog

FOR READERS & WRITERS Today’s writer topic comes from QSFer Scott: What are your favorite spec fic tales (queer or otherwise) featuring humankind’s best friend? Writers, write any? Writers: This is a reader & writer chat – you are welcome to share your own book/link, as long as it fits the chat, but please do so as part of a discussion about the topic. Join the chat: FB: http://bit.ly/1MvPABVMeWe: http://bit.ly/2mjg8lf

SpaceX to Test “Mars Colonizing Spaceship”

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SpaceX Mars Spaceship - SpaceX

The next big leap for SpaceX’s Mars-colonizing Starship spacecraft appears to be right around the corner. Two full-size Starship prototypes, known as SN5 and SN6, recently performed 500-foot-high (150 meters) test hops at SpaceX’s South Texas facilities, near the village of Boca Chica. And the next vehicle in line is nearly ready to soar much higher, company founder and CEO Elon Musk said. “SN8 Starship with flaps & nosecone should be done in about a week. Then static fire, checkouts, static fire, fly to 60,000 ft [18,300 m] & back,” Musk said via Twitter on Saturday (Sept. 12). Full Story … Read more

Does Mars Have Hidden Underground Lakes?

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Mars Lakes - NASA

Remnants of water once found on the surface of Mars may be hidden in a handful of small lakes below the Red Planet’s south pole, and more could exist, according to new research. For decades, researchers have suspected that water lurks below the polar icecaps of Mars, just as it does here on Earth. In 2018, scientists detected evidence for such a reservoir on the Red Planet — signs of a lake about 12 miles (19 kilometers) across and hidden below about a mile (1.5 km) of ice at the south pole of Mars. At the time, the researchers said … Read more

SPACE: Are There Huge Black Holes Out There?

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black hole - pixabay

Black holes can get big … really big. But just how big? It’s possible they could top out at over a trillion times more massive than the sun. That’s 10 times bigger than the largest known black hole so far. But could these monsters truly exist in our universe? A team of researchers has come up with a plan to go hunting for them. And if they exist, they could help us solve the mysteries of how the first stars appeared in the cosmos. If you want to go shopping for black holes in the universe, unfortunately you only have … Read more

What If The Earth Had Rings?

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earth with rings - deposit photos

The series “Imaginary Earths” speculates what the world might be like if one key aspect of life was changed, be if the planet or with humanity itself. What might Earth be like if it had rings, or if everyone could photosynthesize like plants? The rings of Saturn grant the planet a majesty befitting a world named after the king of the Titans. Made nearly completely of bits and chunks of ice and spanning thousands of miles wide, Saturn’s rings have been its most spellbinding feature ever since Galileo discovered the first signs of them in 1610. What might Earth be … Read more

REVIEW: A Fine Mess – Angel Martinez

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A Fine Mess - Angel Martinez - Brimstone

Genre: Sci Fi, Humor, Space Opera LGBTQ+ Category: Gay MM, MMM Reviewer: Melissa, Paranormal Romance Guild Get It On Amazon About The Book Beware the demon prince who’s sick and tired of running. Federico Duomo is dead, to begin with. But this is only the first bit of Shax’s problems resolved. Powerful crime lords and an obscenely wealthy oligarch are still determined to destroy him and his crew, and Fluffy’s original owner may be coming after the Brimstone now, too. It would be splendid to be able to take on one thing at a time. Adding to the external conflicts, … Read more

Where Might There Be Life in the Solar System?

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Titan flyover - NASA

The Earth’s biosphere contains all the known ingredients necessary for life as we know it. Broadly speaking these are: liquid water, at least one source of energy, and an inventory of biologically useful elements and molecules. But the recent discovery of possibly biogenic phosphine in the clouds of Venus reminds us that at least some of these ingredients exist elsewhere in the solar system too. So where are the other most promising locations for extraterrestrial life? Titan Titan is the largest moon of Saturn and the only moon in the solar system with a substantial atmosphere. It contains a thick … Read more