Lately geeks are heroes along manifold axes of popular culture. NASA's crop of them are near the head of their line. But in the newest New Yorker is a feature and profile that blows out the stops. And it raises a question: is the magazine's staff writer and frequent science specialist...
Category: Curiosity rover
Lately geeks are heroes along manifold axes of popular culture. NASA's crop of them are near the head of their line. But in the newest New Yorker is a feature and profile that blows out the stops. And it raises a question: is the magazine's staff writer and frequent science specialist Burkhard Bilger always this good?* His latest is about one of the principle (yikes and correction, principal, as old pal D. Perlman tells me by terse email) characters who made possible the stunningly complex and, so far, highly productive Curiosity Rover. That's the plutonium-propelled machine poking around in Mars's Gale Crater on the prowl for leftovers of once-cozy habitats for life. And no, Bilger's particular focus for his story is not Mohawk Guy, the media hero of the landing's broadcasts who was done to death. Oh, he...
The dust from NPR's intriguing excloo last month - its veteran science reporter Joe Palca caught a top NASA man marveling at data that'd make the history...
The dust from NPR's intriguing excloo last month - its veteran science reporter Joe Palca caught a top NASA man marveling at data that'd make the history books but who did not explain further - seems to have settled. As several insiders told various outlets, the instantly famous "history book" quote was a general reaction to data quality and the perfection so far in how the rover Curiosity's complicated instruments and analytic labs are functioning in general. Palca did a good job of sharing this enigmatic hint of possible thrilling news to come without declaring it a sure thing or snuffling up a space agency coverup. Other media went a bit tabloid in response.
So, this week at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco (which regrettably I was too tied up in my new existence of...
Last Friday's On science blogs collects bloggers' accounts of the Mars news that wasn't, or was, or might be. And it likewise tries to sort out the news of a gene that might, or might not (I vote not) make us human.
Find Tabitha M. Powledge's...
Last Friday's On science blogs collects bloggers' accounts of the Mars news that wasn't, or was, or might be. And it likewise tries to sort out the news of a gene that might, or might not (I vote not) make us human.
Find Tabitha M. Powledge's On science blogs here.
-Paul Raeburn
On Sunday, The New York Times fronted a story about a 36-year-old man, Matt Heverly, who "started a recent workday as any young father might...
On Sunday, The New York Times fronted a story about a 36-year-old man, Matt Heverly, who "started a recent workday as any young father might: up at 5:30, gulping coffee, fixing a bottle for the baby. He threw on jeans and a T-shirt and drove his two sons to day care. He stopped to get the brakes on his Toyota checked and swung by the bank."
Then, the Times breathlessly reports, "he went to the office ... to drive a $2.5 billion robot on Mars. The emphasis is mine, but it could as easily have been that of the Times, if it allowed italics for emphasis. The writer,...
The celebration on live TV in the Mars Science Lab aka "Curiosity" control room made for a vivid illustration of the difference between the regular kind of relief, joy, and disappointment we've been seeing every day among athletes and their fans as games unfold in London, and the concussive relief...
The celebration on live TV in the Mars Science Lab aka "Curiosity" control room made for a vivid illustration of the difference between the regular kind of relief, joy, and disappointment we've been seeing every day among athletes and their fans as games unfold in London, and the concussive relief that can be felt in real life. You know, rescue efforts during mine disasters, a deal that goes through on which a company's very existence and all its jobs depend, a battle won, and a billion dollar mission to another world that is wickedly complicated to run and around which an army of very smart people have been planning their lives for years. Seeing these scientists and engineers leap to their feet, some in tears of relief, others in pure dancing joy, hugging or collapsing, was to envy people who just went through life-shaking fear and came out released into pure joy. So far so good anyway. Media are going nuts over first images, including that instant classic shot...
I'm not eager to review the latest disclosures of offenses by the neuroscience writer and fabulist Jonah Lehrer, because, frankly, I'm too repelled by it. But if you're looking for a recap (and it's grim, I assure you), you can find it...
I'm not eager to review the latest disclosures of offenses by the neuroscience writer and fabulist Jonah Lehrer, because, frankly, I'm too repelled by it. But if you're looking for a recap (and it's grim, I assure you), you can find it on last Friday's edition of Tammy Powledge's excellent blog, On Science Blogs This Week.
She also reviews the latest on the climate conversion of former skeptic Richard Muller, complete with charts, tables, and graphs.
Powledge's blog--you can find the link every Friday on the home page of the National Association of Science Writers--should be essential reading. I always find something I would have been sorry to miss.
- Paul Raeburn
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