Archive of Writings
Additional articles can be found on EVSN.tv.
The Endangered Antarctic Meteorites & the researchers who feed on them.
The researchers with their 16.7-pound find. White helmet: Maria Schönbächler. Green helmet: Maria Valdes. Black helmet: Ryoga Maeda. Orange helmet: Vinciane Debaille. Photo courtesy of Maria Valdes. Credit: Maria Valdes As glaciers around the world transform into...
Introducing: Election Year Story Time Picks
N.B. This series has nothing to do with astronomy, but the future of science requires a nation with the capacity and the will to support science and nurture a highly educated populace. This year, 2024, is a presidential election year here in the United States. There...
Back in 2015, I knowingly blew up my life.
Back in 2015, I knowingly blew up my life. That is not an exaggeration. That is not hyperbole. It is, quite simply, a thing I did because it was the right thing to do. At the time, I was at the top of my career. I’d just been awarded a $12 million grant. I was an...
The Earth is trying to give you more hours in your day… but it wasn’t always
As we gear up for our yearly fundraiser, I feel confident in saying that just about everyone on our team is wishing we could somehow cram more hours into every day. At a certain level, our world is happy to oblige, and every year our days get the smallest fraction of...
NANOGrav: Fluctuations in space captured in real-time
Heading into the holiday weekend, social media exploded with news that a massive discovery was going to be announced on Thursday June 29 by the NANOgrav collaboration. This network of North American observatories had been watching the sky in radio light for over 15...
The echos of genetics
When I was in 8th and 9th grade, whenever my parents wanted to buy my grandmother something to wear, I had to try it on. That was the age I stopped growing taller, and she and I were the same height. She was a slight women and I was a gangly teen. Thin is not the norm...
COVID-19 — Do more than wash your hands
As I watch the COVID-19 virus boil up in hotspots scattered around the globe, I look around at the US and realize that 40 years of presidential economic decisions that favour profit over people have set us up to struggle as a nation. From lack of affordable health...
Toward a greater good: TMT & Starlink
[N.B. This post has been bouncing around in my head since I was in Hawaii for the American Astronomical Society Meeting several weeks ago. I haven't written it yet because I suspect I'm going to piss off everyone, and that is actually not a goal, but sometimes finding...
For every generation a hero: Remembering Apollo 1, Challenger, & Columbia
credit: Jaideep Khemani from Dubai, United Arab Emirates This morning my Google calendar of space history woke me to say that the space shuttle Challenger exploded 34 years ago today. If you are GenX like me, you remember exactly where you were in 1986 when the...
Will the Boeing / SpaceX space race be fair?
This Sunday, January 19, 2020, after multiple weather-related delays, SpaceX was able to launch a 3-time used Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center’s launch pad 39A. Atop this rocket was a Crew Dragon capsule containing two mannequins and a whole lot of sensors. This...