The pioneering computer scientist Edsger Dijkstra, winner of the 1972 A.M. Turing Award and inventor of one of the most iconic algorithms in all of computing, was nothing if not opinionated. Certain programming languages drew his ire, for example: He once dubbed Fortran “the infantile disorder” and stated that “the use of COBOL cripples the … Read more
NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers have photographed some pretty strange objects on the surface of Mars. From human heads and femur-like bones to ‘mushrooms’ and suspiciously geometric structures, these objects are ultimately determined to be something Mars has in abundance. Yes, you got it: rocks. However, in an image taken by Curiosity in 2023, and … Read more
August’s full moon wasn’t the only sight in the night sky Thursday night. The full moon, nicknamed the sturgeon moon, also created a partial lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth aligns between the sun and the moon, causing the Earth’s shadow, or umbra, to obscure the moon. While the event was only … Read more
For decades, scientists have used two different measurements to analyze the behavior of the universe. Now, one of its pioneers is questioning the meaning of these models. NASA The Tarantula Nebula, a section of the universe where new stars are forming. Historically, experts have used two different approaches to measure how the universe is expanding. … Read more
Unicorns, Bigfoot, and banshees have been scientifically debunked, but ghosts are real, sort of. Exceptionally elusive neutrinos and their antineutrino counterparts are known as ghost particles because they almost never interact with matter, due to their lack of electrical charge and almost nonexistent mass. However, these ghostly fundamental particles can help improve nuclear safeguards by … Read more
SALT LAKE CITY — New research methods are revealing how much water may be found buried in Utah’s mountains, leading to an updated understanding of our water supply and knowledge of future dangers. There is enough water in the Timpanogos Rock Glacier to fill 600 Olympic-size swimming pools, according to new research by geologists at … Read more
Most great archaeological discoveries involve years of field work, dense jungle, and lots of excavation. In this case it was a guy clicking through page after page of Google results, the kind of Internet rabbit hole most of us only fall into when we’re bored at home. Luke Auld-Thomas, a doctoral student at Tulane University, … Read more
NASA is preparing to launch a powerful new telescope on Sunday that could change what we know about the universe. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is scheduled to lift off Sunday morning, August 30, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Takeoff is scheduled for 7:26 a.m. EDT, … Read more
NASA plans to soon launch a new space telescope that will study a billion galaxies to track how the universe evolved over time, all courtesy of the US spy program and decades of research in detector technology. The telescope, known as the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, was first developed by the National Reconnaissance Office, … Read more
Good science journalism is, by nature, wary of grandiose or extravagant claims. Good science journalism does not take press releases at face value, but rather investigates the evidence behind those claims and the context in which they appear. Good science journalism is more interested in the truth behind big promises, or at least the likelihood … Read more