A few weeks ago, astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope said they discovered the most distant object yet observed in the universe — a galaxy 13 billion light-years from Earth.
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Artist's impression of the current oldest known galaxy, GN-z11 • Image by Pablo Carlos Budassi (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Samuel Pepys, from a portrait by John Hayls (Public Domain)
A Brit bureaucrat enthralled with science
I don’t know if high school kids today read Samuel Pepys’ Diary. Back in the 50s even parochial school students were exposed to bits of the diary — mostly Pepys’ accounts of the Great London Fire of 1666 and the plague.
An abandoned village in the Bahamas • Photo by Venture Minimalists (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Nature takes back an island village
The abandoned village of Richmond Hill lies at the end of a forest track here, four miles from the nearest paved road on the swampy back side of the island, away from the white sand beaches and breezy ridges of Exuma Sound.
Artist's rendering of the proposed Square Kilometre Array • Image by SPDO/TDP/DRAO/Swinburne Astronomy Productions (CC BY 3.0)
The scientific law of Que Sera, Sera
In his autobiography, the brilliant physicist John Archibald Wheeler makes this confession of faith: “Whatever can be, is.”
Photo by ANIRUDH on Unsplash
The really amazing things are real
People believe the darnedest things.
Illustration of Cassini exploring Saturn • Image by Kevin Gill (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Cassini’s slingshot tour
On the evening of February 23, Venus overtook Jupiter in the evening sky. The two planets gleamed together in a pairing of rare closeness. Both fit neatly into the field of a small telescope, with all four of Jupiter’s Galilean moons.
A Greater Antillean Boa • Photo by Jan P Zegarra (Public Domain)
Can’t fight phobia even in paradise
Every paradise has its snake, as Adam and Eve learned to their chagrin.
The green flash at sunrise • Photo by Luis Argerich (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The quest for the flash
Morning. The sky mostly clear to the far horizon, just a few wisps of cloud far out there over the sea where the sun will soon rise. The air is tinged pink, orange, and yellow, like layers of sugar icing on the turquoise sea.
Photo by Antonio Borriello from Pexels
Mr. Computer tackles the Y2K bug
Dear Mr. Computer, All we hear about these days is the Y2K bug, and how it’s going to cause havoc at the end of this year. What is the bug, and how can I avoid it?
Walden Pond in Concord, MA • Photo by Eric T (CC BY-ND 2.0)
For wildness, hope lies in reality, not romanticism
“In wildness is the preservation of the world,” said Thoreau, and his felicitous phrase has become something of a mantra for conservationists.