Scientists recently conducted a survey to determine the community’s consensus on the Universe. The Big Mysteries Survey reveals an interesting insight into what Physics’ brightest minds think about its biggest problems . This does not make Physics look weak. It makes physics look human. Perhaps that is the point. The frontier of physics is not a courtroom verdict. It is a living argument.
What have we learned from the space probes that visited asteroids Itokawa, Ryugu, and Bennu? Quite a lot about the early, forming Solar System – which might include some prehistoric biology…
Artemis, AI, Astronomy, and our place in it. The author asks why do astrophysics at all. To produce results faster, or to turn graduate students into inefficient stand-ins for software? Or because astronomy is one of the most human things we do. It gives us wonder, yes, but also responsibility: to remember the histories of colonialism and militarization tied to our instruments, to use new tools without surrendering judgment, and to insist that people remain the point of the enterprise. The universe is not only something to be computed. It is something to be encountered, interpreted, and loved.
Read about Carl Sagan and his legacy during your turkey break!
Today, let’s learn about the Celts and their connections to the night sky!
Today’s paper uses Johannes Kepler’s pre-telescope sunspot drawings to re-examine irregular 17th century solar activity.