Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is unique in many ways. It is the only moon in our Solar System known to have a thick atmosphere. Other…
View More What is it like studying faraway worlds like Titan?
Category: Worlds
How did MESSENGER revolutionize our understanding of Mercury?
Mercury, one of Earth’s rocky neighbors, is one of our Solar System’s most enigmatic planets. It is notoriously difficult to study due to its close…
View More How did MESSENGER revolutionize our understanding of Mercury?
How does stars’ radioactivity affect the habitability of nearby planets?
Stars are dynamic entities. They emit radiation and charged particles that affect the planets that orbit them. This “space weather” is thus an important factor…
View More How does stars’ radioactivity affect the habitability of nearby planets?
What do we know about Titan, Saturn’s largest moon?
One of the most interesting worlds in this solar system is Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. It has a climate that in some ways…
View More What do we know about Titan, Saturn’s largest moon?
Deflecting Existential Risk with Space Colonization
The first living organism on Earth emerged approximately three and a half billion years ago. Since then, life has evolved into countless forms and colonized…
View More Deflecting Existential Risk with Space Colonization
How to Settle the Solar System
Space is marvelous but hostile. If humans intend to be spacefaring, we must identify and overcome major obstacles before colonizing our Solar System. Some think…
View More How to Settle the Solar System
The Martian Subsurface: A Shielded Environment for Life?
Among our solar system’s planets, Mars seems a likely spot for future human habitation. Elon Musk is developing an interplanetary vehicle that may someday…
View More The Martian Subsurface: A Shielded Environment for Life?
Terraforming: Stranger than Science Fiction
Elon Musk and NASA are quarrelling about whether it is possible to terraform Mars. The debate is an old one. Terraforming (sometimes called ecopoiesis in…
View More Terraforming: Stranger than Science Fiction