Where's the protest? In a discussion I seem to keep having these days when I mention that human spaceflight is actually a valuable endeavour for a nation, I’m usually met with a look of incongruity. Then the question: What has space exploration ever done for us? I used to get a little angry...

Babylon 5's White Star approaches the Shadow's homeworld of Z'ha'dum on the Galactic Rim. It would appear that scientists have confirmed that the outer edge of the Milky Way is a bad location for life to even think about existing. This research reminded me of the “Galactic Rim” in the 90′s...

Oh dear. Just when I was actually beginning to care about the cast of Defying Gravity, it was cancelled half-way through the first season. I was a little annoyed about this as #DefyingGravity on Twitter was fast becoming a weekly ritual; a group of us die-hard sci-fi viewers scoffing at the science...

The Japanese HTV-1 taken 3 days after launch at an altitude below 300km (©Ralf Vandebergh) I first came across Ralf Vandebergh’s outstanding astrophotography when I was inquiring about a “mystery” object that appeared to be stalking the International Space Station (ISS) in July....

The biggest factor hanging over human settlement of other worlds is the question of water. We need it to drink, we need it to cultivate food, we need it for fuel (indeed, we need it for the first lunar microbrewery); pretty much every human activity requires water. Supplies of water could be ferried...

The space station as reflected in John "Danny" Olivas' spacesuit visor on September 3, 2009 (NASA) When I came across this image in NASA’s Human Space Flight gallery, I stopped. I was looking for the “perfect” shuttle image during the STS-128 mission to the International...

Lago Erepecu and Rio Trombetas, Brazil (NASA) The shapes of fractals appear in nature all the time, but when I saw this Earth Observatory image from the International Space Station, I thought I was looking at a zoomed-in portion of the famous Mandelbrot set graphic. This picture wasn’t formed by...

Stony Ridge Observatory There is some good news coming out of the ashes of the horrendous Station Fire that continues to burn some parts of LA County: Stony Ridge Observatory is safe. The observatory, located approximately 5 miles north east of the larger Mt. Wilson Observatory, was built and is run...

Today is H.G. Wells’ birthday! And I must admit, the Google logo is pretty cool. A UFO and a couple of tripods (with more in the distance) rampaging through the sleepy rural village of Horsell in Surrey is depicted. This relates to last week’s Google Doodle of crop circles and tweeted map...

I am fascinated with outer space, this is true. But if you stop to think about it, the inner space between the atoms is just as awe-inspiring as the vast distances separating the planets, stars and galaxies. In actuality the volume inside an hydrogen atom is essentially empty; the single electron “orbits”...