Discovering Exoplanet TOI-2109b Looking out my west-facing bedroom window on a clear, dark night, I see hundreds of stars, each just a point of light. Many of those stars may be like our sun with a system of orbiting planets. We’ve long suspected that other suns have other planets. Back in 1979, Gordon Walker began… Continue reading A New Hot Jupiter
Category: Discoveries
How She Did It
Anika Chebrolu’s Research Process Almost 7 million people around the world have died from the coronavirus since the beginning of this pandemic and just over 1 million in the United States as of this posting. You can see updates on the CNN link above. Anika Chebrolu, a Texas high school student, stands out among scientists… Continue reading How She Did It
A Matter of Taste?
How an explosion revealed a superpower “Well, it’s just a matter of taste,” you may say to a friend when disagreeing about the flavor of food. Now many scientific studies support this common experience: some people have a more acute sense of taste than others. We all live in different taste worlds. The wonderful and… Continue reading A Matter of Taste?
The Biggest Comet Ever!
The biggest comet ever discovered, the lecturing astronomer told us, is speeding toward the sun at 22,000 miles per hour. I sat up straighter, as I’d guess did most of us in this Zoom class. We were here to learn why Pluto is no longer a planet and this was news. But, he continued, we… Continue reading The Biggest Comet Ever!
Can Brain Games Make You Smarter?
Game Therapy? Imagine yourself immersed in a virtual reality game, traveling through a digital universe, slaying monsters, racing cars, climbing mountains. As you race through this universe, your pulse quickens, and your senses sharpen. Now imagine when you finish, a quick brain scan finds you boosted your brain’s capabilities. This game trains your brain just… Continue reading Can Brain Games Make You Smarter?