A number of small items from NASA’s public relations efforts have caught my attention in the last several days, and — like pieces of a puzzle — I’m beginning to suspect that they all fit together in a way that points to a major upcoming announcement about Mars. But unfortunately I also suspect that […]
Science magazine has just published a peer-reviewed article examining the radioprotective (or anti-radiation) abilities of an emerging class of drugs. [1] This follows the recent announcements that two pharmaceutical/biotech companies have received government funding to further develop their respective anti-radiation drugs. According to the announcements for the research awards, the US Department of Defense is […]
Early on Wednesday morning (March 19, 2008), I was writing an article tentatively entitled “What is a Futurist?” when I heard on the radio of the death of Arthur C. Clarke. My first thought after hearing the news was that the world had lost one of the great modern futurists.
Clarke is perhaps best known for […]
I have been watching the U.S. presidential candidates (in both parties) for statements on their positions and viewpoints regarding space exploration. (See The Candidates’ Stand on Space Exploration – December 31, 2007.) When it comes to space exploration, the topic has rarely come up in the current presidential campaign. Thus I’ve been reporting any written […]
The beginning of the 2008 U.S. Presidential Primaries is now only three days away (Iowa on January 3, 2008), yet one topic we have heard almost nothing about is that of space exploration. Based on an extensive content review I have just completed — examining the candidate’s official campaign websites, published speeches and public comments […]
On October 4, 1957, humans looked skyward and for the first time saw a manmade object orbiting over their heads. A dot of light passing west to east across the night sky, history’s first artificial satellite: Sputnik.*
At the time, much of the world’s reaction seemed political in nature. For Russians, Sputnik evoked a strong streak […]