Two cultural threads from the ancient world came together during the European Renaissance.
Articles from October 2021
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The third culture
Kevin Kelly is executive editor of Wired magazine, the ultra-hip organ of the computer generation, known for its screaming graphics and esoteric nerd-speak.
Impact scar on Jupiter from Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 • Image by HST/Judy Schmidt (CC BY 2.0)
Comets, stars, and rock ‘n roll
An e‑mail query from a young acquaintance: “One of my favorite songs in all of explored space is ‘Jupiter Crash’ by The Cure.”
Photo by Rama & Musée Bolo (CC BY-SA 2.0 fr)
Computer graphic
Dear Mr. Computer…
Photo by FLY:D on Unsplash
Getting down to bedrock
In 1989, President’s Bush’s “America 2000” agenda set the goals of making US students first in the world in science and mathematics and ensuring that every adult American knew enough about science to participate responsibly in national debates about scientific issues.
Arum maculatum, or cuckoo-pint • Photo by Olivier Pichard (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The lore of the flowers
Every now and then a book comes along that finds a place on the bedside table and stays there. So it has been with Richard Mabey’s “Flora Britannica.”
The surface of Europa imaged by the Galileo spacecraft • NASA/JPL (Public Domain)
Galileo gets the last laugh
Spacecraft Galileo, a 2½-ton hunk of human ingenuity, has been orbiting Jupiter since it arrived there in December 1995 after a six-year voyage from Earth.
The STS-95 crew, including John Glenn (right) • NASA (Public Domain)
Adventure yes, breakthrough no
John Glenn’s proposed return to space in October at age 77 is pure grandstanding on the part of NASA and the senator. The ostensible justification for the trip is a bit of a stretch: to study aging.
Replica of the Laetoli footprints • Photo by Momotarou2012 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The moment we became different
For more than two decades, Donald Johanson has searched the Great Rift Valley of East Africa for bones of our early ancestors.
Photo by Adrien Olichon from Pexels
The end: clearer but not nearer
Scientists are pretty sure how the universe began. They are less certain how it will end.