In the beginning, there was … well, maybe there was no beginning. Perhaps our universe has always existed — and a new theory of quantum gravity reveals how that could work. “Reality has so many things that most people would associate with sci-fi or even fantasy,” said Bruno Bento, a physicist who studies the nature … Read more
Welcome to the latest installment of “Writer Fuel – cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration. Today: he 16th-century courtier John Dee, a scientific adviser to England’s Queen Elizabeth I, was also deeply involved in magic and the occult, … Read more
Science fiction novels and movies are packed with far-out ideas, most often as the springboard for an action-packed adventure rather than a serious attempt to predict future trends in science or technology. Some of the most common tropes, such as accelerating a spacecraft to fantastic speeds in a matter of seconds without crushing the occupants … Read more
Welcome to the latest installment of “Writer Fuel – cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration. Today: An enormous comet — possibly the largest one ever detected — is barreling toward the inner solar system with an estimated arrival … Read more
As climate change warms the Arctic, melting ice could release hazardous chemicals and radioactive material dating to the Cold War. Vanishing permafrost could also free viruses and bacteria that have slumbered beneath Arctic ice for tens of thousands of years, a new study shows. By poring over historical records and past studies on contamination, the … Read more
Welcome to the latest installment of “Writer Fuel – cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration. Today: There’s now even more evidence that a bizarre star system perched on the constellation Orion’s nose may contain the rarest type of … Read more
While officials at NASA and the European Space Agency, as well as planners in China, plot out ultra-expensive and complicated missions to return samples from Mars, there are an increasing number of researchers blueprinting low-cost and novel ways to further explore the Red Planet. Be it via souped-up helicopters or inexpensive landers and orbiters, they … Read more
If you are human, you are going to die. This isn’t the most comforting thought, but death is the inevitable price we must pay for being alive. Humans are, however, getting better at pushing back our expiration date, as our medicines and technologies advance. If the human life span continues to stretch, could we one … Read more
We now know where NASA’s first-ever robotic moon rover will touch down. The ice-hunting Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will land just west of Nobile Crater, which sits near the moon’s south pole, NASA officials announced Tuesday (Sept. 20). In late 2023, VIPER will fly to the moon aboard Griffin, a lander built by … Read more
Mars was doomed to desiccation by its small size, a new study suggests. Thanks to observations by robotic explorers such as NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, scientists know that in the ancient past, liquid water coursed across the Martian surface: The Red Planet once hosted lakes, rivers and streams, and possibly even a huge ocean … Read more
