Cheryl's Mewsings

It is a long time since we had one of those “we are all going to die” posts, and I’m worried you might be missing them (hi Kendall!), so here’s a doozy. Via Damien G. Walter I discover this article in New Scientist that suggests there’s something wrong with the sun. It is a very [...]

Because I have been busy for the past three days… – One of the reasons I love cosmology is the timescales over which things happen. This story, about a star eating a planet, explains that the poor planet may only have 10 millions years left to live. – Over at Deep Sea News Dr. M [...]

It has been known for some time that some species are able to regenerate entire limbs if they lose them. However, one species of jellyfish, turritopsis nutricula, goes much further; it uses the same cell re-purposing technique to turn itself back into a polyp (its immature form), thereby re-starting its life-cycle. Apparently the jellyfish use [...]

Well, the picture quality isn’t very good, but dear Cassini has managed to shoot a short movie of actual lightning flashes on Saturn. I’ll bet that’s one heck of a storm.

Yes, really, there is such a thing, and it is important to science fiction. Here’s why. Whenever we discuss the possibility of life on other planets, or even the likelihood of finding other, albeit empty, Earth-like planets in other solar systems, we are very short of actual data. Telescopes are now doing a wonderful job [...]

Because I have spent most of today on Day Jobbery. – Joe Gordon reports on a BBC story about a supposed real-life Glasgow vampire that caused massive moral panic and led to censoring of comics. – Justine Larbalestier has a tribute to the brilliant and sadly missed Alexander McQueen. (Go on, click through, just look [...]

Because I’d much rather be watching the Sharks take on Team USA in the Olympic final. – A.S. Byatt has some long thoughts about Alice that seem to me to prove that everyone brings their own biases to reading a book. – The Finnish government continues to subsidize important cultural activities such as science fiction [...]

According to Nature we are scandalously unprepared. Not a single Earth government has plans in place for what they should do in the event of being contacted by extraterrestrial beings. Not to worry, though. There are plenty of science fiction fans all around the world who have dedicated their lives to studying what to do [...]

Various people have been posting or emailing holiday cards. My prize for the best picture goes to Leah Moore and John Reppion for this. Click on the picture to see a larger image. However, the best holiday email I have had so far came from Hannu Rajaniemi who found a site that would write my [...]

Here’s a challenge for budding surfers. NASA spacecraft have recently provided firm photographic evidence of a phenomenon known as a “solar tsunami”. The wave of gas they photographed was caused by an erupting sunspot. It was 100,000 km high and was moving at 250 km/sec. Now that’s what I call a big wave.

Kevin and I are both very tired this morning. We have no idea why. However, breakfast and caffeine should fix that. In the meantime, in the great hobbit tradition of Second Breakfast, I offer up a big plate of link salad. Cyprus and Turkey are at loggerheads over cats The Guardian dishes the dirt on [...]

Well, maybe not, because the price of a 3-night stay in this particular hotel is US$4.4 million. Why? Because the Galactic Suite Space Resort is, well, in space. Or at least it will be once they have built it and got it into orbit. It will take a while before we can actually afford to [...]

Yesterday’s post at Biology in Science Fiction picks up the topic of life on the moons of the outer planets. Peggy chooses to concentrate on Jupiter’s moon, Europa, which sadly seems a little hostile. I’m waiting with interest to see what she makes of The Quiet War.

The science columns of today’s newspapers are buzz with the news that NASA has discovered a huge new ring around Saturn, extending up to 8 million miles from the planet. The ring is believed to have a complex interaction with the moons Phoebe and Iapetus, with ring material originating from Phoebe and being deposited on [...]

The new issue of Clarkesworld Magazine is now online, and we have a bunch of great material for you. There is fiction from Sarah Monette and N.K. Jemisin. The Monette story is also available as a podcast. Jeff VanderMeer has a mass interview going with a whole pile of young writers, including Ms. Jemisin. They [...]

Astronomers at St. Andrews University have a puzzle. They have discovered a planet that shouldn’t exist. WASP-18b, as the mysterious object is known, is 10 times the size of Jupiter, yet it orbits just 1.4 million miles from its local star. (For comparison, Mercury’s orbit is an average of 36 million miles from the sun [...]

Today’s Independent has a fascinating article about the probable presence of underground caverns filled with sea water on Saturn’s moon, Enceladus. All it needs now is squid… And that’s as good a reason as any to remind that that if you haven’t yet read The Quiet War by Paul McAuley then you should. It will [...]

Today’s Independent has some fabulous high definition pictures of Mars taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Click here for the main article, and here for the photo stream.

Virgin Galactic has begun construction on the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport in New Mexico. The BBC has a report. The spaceport is due to be finished in 18 months, so with any luck they should be able to have an exhibit at the Reno Worldcon (hint). In the meantime you can see some artists’ [...]

It seems a long time since I did a “we’re all going to die” post, and with all of the hysteria about swine flu I thought it was about time to have something else to worry about – rogue black holes. Yes folks, astronomers now believe that there are many rogue black holes roaming out [...]