The Arecibo Telescope uses radio and radar energy to explore the universe. Its massive dish, built in a natural depression in the jungles of Puerto Rico, measures 1,000 feet (305 meters) across and 167 feet (51m) deep. Its 40,000 perforated aluminum panels cover some 20 acres. Suspended 450 feet (137m...

I'm starting something new today: a weekly collection of interesting articles and blog entries I see during the week but don't blog on myself. First, to give credit where it is due, I got the idea from astronomer Pamela Gay's Star Stryder blog . Every week, she posts a "best of the blogs"...

Q: What's the difference between trash and important archaeological artifacts? A: About 100 years. Where people tossed their garbage a century ago, archaeologists can often find revealing remnants of culture. On the Moon, the transformation from trash to treasure took less than 4 decades. U.S. astronauts...

I just read, with a mixture of fascination and embarrassment, writer Nancy Atkins' compelling article — posted on the Universe Today web site — about the realities of landing humans on Mars. The article asks the simple question of how we would land a crewed spacecraft on Mars. She does...

Do you want a little help appreciating the utter inherent coolness of the Mars Exploration Rover missions? Check out the video created by up-and-coming digital artist Daniel Maas . The 9-minute video, accurate to the smallest detail, depicts the launch, landing, and surface meanderings of a rover. Two...

Could NASA's current approach to exobiology — the study of alien life forms — end up with astronauts stumbling across extraterrestrial life and not even realizing it? A report by the National Research Council (NRC) released Friday raises this provocative question. (The NRC is part of...

I just caught some hot news about exoplanets on the " Centauri Dreams " blog by Paul Gilster, a veteran science and technology writer and author of Centauri Dreams: Imagining and Planning Interstellar Exploration . If you have never seen Paul's blog, try it. In his own words, it's "a...

The sweetest discoveries in science are often the ones nobody ever expected to make. Such is the story of the discovery of pulsars 40 years ago by Irish physicist Jocelyn Bell-Burnell and her Ph.D. thesis advisor, Antony Hewish. To earn her doctorate in physics, Bell-Burnell was to use a new radio telescope...

So far, the nascent space-tourism industry has enjoyed a global media cuddle. In my own blogs, I've been pretty positive about the idea, seeing a potential boost to interest in space, in general, and the start of a new industry and new wealth. But not everybody is so impressed, judging from a few...

This week, scientists from around the world are gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The NRAO , headquartered on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, designs, builds, and operates radio telescopes...