astrobiology
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Life Under Three Suns: The Real Physics Behind Netflix’s 3 Body Problem
By now, I’m assuming that we’ve made our way through all eight episodes of the Netflix adaptation of Liu Cixin’s The 3 Body Problem (and by we, I mean sci-fi nerds). The series is packed with science—much of it way over the top—but it grounds itself in quantum mechanics and astrophysics. The show combines hard…
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Aliens Could Be Trying to Get Our Attention Via Supernova-Timed Beacons
A recent SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) effort focused on a famous supernova from 1987, working under the premise that aliens might use such events to draw attention to themselves with synchronized beacons. Although this hunt came up short, it lays the groundwork for future searches using the same innovative strategy. This principle, called the…
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NASA Apologises for Not Supporting Your Delulu Plans to Visit Jupiter
NASA issued an apology for a slightly shady post on X that questioned people’s ability to visit Jupiter. In a recent social media post, NASA wrote, “Is visiting Jupiter on your bucket list? Let’s face facts, it’s not going to happen.” The space agency then went on to encourage space fans to send their names…
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NASA’s Perseverance Rover: Its Path to Finding Organics on Mars
Earlier this week, scientists announced that Perseverance found organic molecules on Mars. Not life itself—hardly—but another endorsement of the ancient habitat on Mars as having been suitable for life. Perseverance has been searching for biosignatures—that is, signs of ancient life on Mars—since it landed on the Red Planet in February 2021. But the search for…