Science and Society

New Moon: 200 Million Years Younger Than Thought

Ned Potter — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 06:39:00 -0400

"The moon's a harsh mistress," goes the song. It does not surrender its secrets easily. Scientists have thought it was 4.6 billion years old -- but now Lars Borg of Lawrence Livermore National Lab, writing in today's edition of the...

Perseid Meteor Shower, Seen From Space Station

Ned Potter — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:50:37 -0400

Well, at least somebody had perfect weather for the Perseid meteor shower over the weekend. Astronaut Ron Garan, orbiting 200 miles above the Earth's surface on the International Space Station, had the presence of mind to mount a camera in...

Discovery and Endeavour, One Last Time

Ned Potter — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 06:27:00 -0400

One last look: the space shuttles Endeavour and Discovery being moved late yesterday from one building to another at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. They already have been stripped of their engines and thrusters so that they can be...

Hurricane Season: New NOAA Outlook

Ned Potter — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 13:03:57 -0400

ABC News Arlette Saenz reports: In its new outlook for the 2011 hurricane season, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center predicted an above-normal hurricane season with 7 to 10 hurricanes, and 3 to 5 of those hurricanes categorized as major. 14 to...

Apple iPhone 5: First Look?

Ned Potter — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:49:09 -0400

It happens every time: When Apple drops hints it has a new product about to hit the market -- in this case the iPhone 5 -- the blogosphere lights up. The new phone, if you believe what they're saying...will be...

Pluto Has New Moon

Ned Potter — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 12:11:41 -0400

Just seeing it was an accomplishment. The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a tiny new moon, somewhere between 8 and 21 miles in diameter, in orbit around Pluto. Pluto was already known to have three other moons, named Charon, Nix...

Apple Beats the Street

Ned Potter — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:42:24 -0400

There are companies that make a lot of money. Then there’s Apple, which reported after the stock market closed today that it earned $7.79 per share in the quarter just ended, beating analysts’ expectations of around $5.81. From a financial...

Space Shuttle Program Now to End With Predawn Landing

Ned Potter — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:05:06 -0400

When I was down in Florida to cover the launch of the shuttle Endeavour in May, I ran into an old NASA friend who joked about the agency's knack for timing. The schedule for this month's final flight by Atlantis...

Massachusetts Tornado Track Seen from Space

Ned Potter — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 07:30:00 -0400

The Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts are a very pretty part of the world. They are not rugged, but meteorologists say tornadoes tend to break up when they pass over hilly terrain, undone by "friction" with the ground. That's partly why...

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Ned Potter — Fri, 20 May 2011 16:26:38 -0400

Harold Camping is ever-present on the cable channel of the Alameda Bible Fellowship, a low-key man proselytizing from a well-thumbed Bible. But look what he's started. The third top hashtag on Twitter this afternoon is "#iftheworldendsonsaturday." On Camping's website, FamilyRadio.com,...