It might seem a bit far-fetched but yes, it’s true: if you could line up all of the other planets in our Solar System in a row edge-to-edge (or more geometrically accurately, limb-to-limb) and for good measure even include Pluto, the entire queue would easily fit within the space between Earth and the Moon. (Not…
Category: Just for Fun
What Is Space?
This is a blog post I wrote in March of 2008—a year before there was even Lights in the Dark! I’m sharing it again because it’s fun…I hope you think so too. We’ve all seen the grade-school models of the solar system. Maybe you made one in science class. Out of painted styrofoam balls or…
No, the Solar System (Still) Isn’t a Vortex
Like a bad penny (or a grossly inaccurate science meme) this tends to rear its shiny animated head online at least a couple of times a year, and it seems this year will be no exception. It’s a GIF showing the motions of the Sun and planets through space, trailing glowing lines (which they don’t…
Friday Fun: Plop Plop, Fizz Fizz…in Zero-G
During his 340-day-long One-Year Mission in 2015-2016 NASA astronaut Scott Kelly conducted—and was the subject of—countless experiments on the effects of long-duration space travel aboard the ISS. But he did manage to have a little fun too; the video above shows what happens to a blob of water free-floating in microgravity (that’s the technical term for…
NASA Releases Mars Rover Game for Curiosity’s 4th Anniversary
Friday, August 5 marks the 4th anniversary of Curiosity’s landing on Mars and to celebrate NASA has released a video game that lets you rack up high scores while trying to drive a rover on Mars (warning: it’s trickier than it looks!)
Death in Space
Here’s a bit of fun for you: an animated short of ways one could meet one’s end on a space adventure, by professional animator and illustrator Tom Lucas. Obviously this is more science-fiction than science fact, what with the hungry aliens and all, but you still wouldn’t want to smash yourself in the faceplate with a chunk…
What If You Had a Black Hole in Your Pocket?
What would happen if you somehow had a coin-sized black hole to play with? (Come on, you know you’ve been wondering about this.) Well, besides the fact that you’d quickly be dead (spoiler alert) a lot of things would happen—to you, to the world around you and, depending on the kind of black hole, to…
The Scale of the Solar System With a Soccer Ball, a Drone, Pin Heads, and Planet Nine
I love models that demonstrate the incredible size and space of the Solar System, very much so because many illustrations and diagrams fail to portray it accurately (and for very good reason…it’s enormous.) The most recent is shown here, enthusiastically created and narrated by former NASA engineer Mark Rober. This particular demonstration is unique in…
Apollo 10’s “Outer-Space-Type Music” Explained
There’s been some buzz recently (no pun intended, Mr. Aldrin) concerning supposed “space music” heard by Apollo 10 astronauts while they were traveling around the far side of the Moon in May of 1969. This is in no small part due to the season three opener of NASA’s Unexplained Files* on the Science Channel, which aired on…
This Four-Minute Trailer Supercut is a Star Wars Tsunami
If you’re as excited about Star Wars: The Force Awakens as I am (and apparently plenty of others — tickets for the film have already sold out two months before it opens) then you’ll love this: a nearly four-minute “supercut” of all of the trailers and teasers that have thus far been released. Assembled by James…
Deleted Scene From The Martian Shows Even MOAR SCIENCE!!1!
Have you gone to see The Martian yet? (And if you haven’t, my review of it may help speed you on your way.) Did you love it? Just kidding — of course you did. But did you read the book first? If you did, you may have noticed that a lot of Mark Watney’s hands-on…
This Beautiful Webcomic Shows Why Our “Mathematical Skies” Have Not Lost Their Wonder
People of past civilizations had their own ideas of what the stars in the night sky are… distant campfires, lights shining through holes in a vast blanket covering the Earth, deceased ancestors, countless and constantly-traveling gods… whether or not they really believed these stories or if they were just tales to inspire poets and provide…
Lights in the Dark 