Tag: Space
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How seconds of staring at the solar eclipse led to a world of hurt for one woman
An optical coherence tomography image of a woman’s left-eye retina shows a crescent-shaped scar. (Wu et al.. / JAMA Ophthalmology) A medical case reported today in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology proved the wisdom of all those warnings not to stare at the partly covered sun during August’s solar eclipse. Unfortunately, it’s too late for the…
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Breakthrough Prize ceremony shines glitzy scientific spotlight on cosmic mappers
A color-coded projection map of the full sky shows temperature variations as measured by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe. (NASA Photo) This year’s Breakthrough Prizes, cast as the “Oscars of Science,” are going to genetic engineers, disease fighters, math whizzes — and the scientists on the cosmos-mapping team behind the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, or WMAP.…
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Science fiction authors Andy Weir and Neal Stephenson look at life after ‘The Martian’
Sci-fi author Andy Weir (“The Martian,” “Artemis”) makes a point while Neal Stephenson (“Seveneves,” “The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.”) looks on. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) What could be better than hearing a science fiction writer talk about how to create whole new worlds? How about doubling that to two science fiction writers? That…
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Elon Musk frets about love life (and sheds a few tears) in Rolling Stone interview
Elon Musk graces the cover of the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine. (Mark Seliger Photo for Rolling Stone) Elon Musk may know how to get to Mars with SpaceX, and how to revolutionize the transportation industry with Tesla and the Hyperloop, but he’s still trying to figure out how to find true love. “It’s…
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NASA’s Juno orbiter delivers a fresh batch of blimmin’ beauties from Jupiter
Jupiter’s northern hemisphere is featured in this processed view captured by the Juno orbiter’s JunoCam imager during the probe’s close flyby on Oct. 24. (NASA / JPL / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstadt Photo) Artistic amateur astronomers have started leveraging the latest looks from NASA’s Juno orbiter to produce fresh views of Jupiter, including…
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Virtual reality takes you on a trip to Mars with NASA rover – and to alien worlds, too
“Access Mars” provides 3-D views of the Red Planet as captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover. (NASA / JPL Illustration) NASA has been offering virtual-reality tours of Mars for years — but now, with Google’s help, the space agency has come up with one of the most accessible tours yet. “Access Mars” lays out a 3-D terrain…
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Google Maps expands its interplanetary domain all the way out to Pluto
You can get an annotated view of Pluto from Google Maps. (NASA / JHUAPL / SwRI / Google) If you zoom way, way out on Google Maps, you can now find your way around places like Sputnik Planum, Seville Mons, Aphrodite Terra and Damascus Sulcus. Those are destinations on Pluto, Iapetus, Venus and Enceladus, just…
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Lego shows off its ‘Women of NASA’ toy set, without ‘Hidden Figures’ star
Lego’s “Women of NASA” set of minifigures includes Margaret Hamilton, Nancy Grace Roman, Sally Ride and Mae Jemison — but not Katherine Johnson, who was featured in “Hidden Figures.” (Lego Photo) Seven and a half months after its selection, Lego unveiled a set of minifigures celebrating NASA women researchers and explorers, due to go on…
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Watch astronauts flip when they get to play with a fidget spinner on the space station
We’re not entirely sure if fidget spinners are still a thing on Earth. But judging by a new video from NASA, they’re still cool on the International Space Station. The video uploaded on Friday by the Johnson Space Center YouTube account was trending Saturday on the social platform. “How long does it spin? I’m not…
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‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’: Trailer makes a splash, and ticket websites avoid a crash
Luke Skywalker looks worried in the new trailer for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” (Disney / Lucasfilm via YouTube) The Force is clearly with “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” The trailer for Episode VIII of the movie saga made its debut in the midst of Monday Night Football, kicking off ticket sales for the Dec.…