When the Apollo astronauts set down on the moon, they didn’t just plant the flag and take a selfie–they had science to do. One of the experiments left by Apollo was a laser range finding experiment. By means of high quality retro-reflectors left by Apollo and two Soviet Lunakod missions, we now know that the…
For those genuinely in doubt as to whether we sent twelve men to walk on the moon, some facts. 1. We left retroreflectors on the moon, just like bicycle reflectors only bigger and not as pretty. Visit the McDonald Observatory or any other with the proper laser range-finding equipment and you can see for yourself…
Dear Moon Hoax Conspiracy Nuts: Here is how you know when a moon landing is faked: In “Transformers: Dark of the Moon, they didn’t properly account for lunar gravity or for the vacuum and so they animated all the dust wrong. In every single image recorded by NASA on the moon, the dust behaves as…
From time to time, I get kind notes from readers favorably comparing my work to the classics of old. I also occasionally get messages asking how you can help promote my work and bring me one step closer to quitting the day job and doing this full time. Well here’s something…
I’m no Matt Damen, but I did okay with the ladies back in the day–I guess. I was and am a nerd. I grew up in a world of books and ideas. I was that kid in the back of the class with his nose in a book to keep from having to make small…
Recently, I found myself in contact with online denizens arguing that Republicans want to destroy trade unions because they are against the free market. No. Just no. Putting aside what the GOP does or does not want for another (very rainy) day…
INTRODUCTION The US Space Force has a PR problem. Several, in fact. It was not Donald Trump’s idea. It did not steal its iconography from Star Trek. It is not just a lunatic scheme to expand the military-industrial complex by sending battleships into space. Yet judging from social media, many think all these things…
That depends on your definition of “touch.” Obviously we can touch things. You are touching something right now that’s preventing you from falling to the center of Earth’s gravitational field. The thing is, “touching” may not mean what you think it does. If you play pool, “touching” may conjure the firm crack of cue against…
Today, Texas is living in denial. In a month, its people will be paying the price. Back in March, when Harris County unexpectedly cancelled the Houston Livestock & Rodeo, residents were taking things seriously. SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 has a slow incubation time, but the numbers don’t lie when you plot them. Slowly,…
Today, scientists working under the National Science Foundation reported using light from nine radio-telescopes spaces around the world to record the first (radio) image of a black hole: I understand the physics involved just well enough to tell you that this view of the black hole at core of galaxy Messier 87 is neither head-on…
