Breakthrough Starshot announced back in 2016, was an extremely ambitious project to send a fleet of miniature spacecraft powered by powerful lasers to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our Solar System.
On the night of August 12/13, the Perseids meteor shower will peak, coinciding with a solar eclipse visible as a total eclipse in northern Spain and a partial eclipse in much of the remainder of Europe.
Mars presents significant challenges for human colonisation, featuring a thin atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide, extreme cold, and high levels of toxic perchlorates in the soil. Its lack of a magnetic field would expose any future inhabitants to harmful radiation, complicating survival. Understanding these factors is crucial for future exploration and habitation.
This post considers the ways in which humans wearing protective cold weather clothing in the Antarctic winter at minus 80, and insulated spacesuits on Mars, also at minus 80, lose heat to the environment and arrives at the interesting conclusion that it is easier to stay warm on Mars at very low temperatures
The proliferation of social media accounts sharing astronomical content has led to a significant amount of misleading and inaccurate information, primarily driven by engagement rather than accuracy. Facebook's algorithm favors sensationalist, low-effort posts, often created with minimal knowledge, diminishing the reliability of astronomical information on the platform.
Explaining Science 