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The Thirty Meter Telescope May Be Cancelled Not by Ordinary People's Protest, but by Wealthy People's Whim

Astronomy, it seems, finds itself at the mercy of political caprice and economic machinations yet...

NASA Predicts Asteroid 2024 YR4 Might Hit The Moon.

According to observations made by NASA using the James Webb Space Telescope, there is a three point...

Basically No chance 2024 YR4 will hit Earth.

Recent observations have virtually eliminated any concern about an impact from asteroid 2024 YR4...

Asteroid 2024 YR4: A 2032 Threat? Not on Our Watch

Back in December 2024, astronomers caught wind of something unusual—a small, fast-moving rock...

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Hontas FarmerRSS Feed of this column.

My research focuses on astrophysics from massive star formation to astroparticle physics. Born and raised in Chicagoland I have lived in Bellwood, IL since 1984 and attended public schools here... Read More »

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A presumption of incompetence: One perspective on the issues of women and minorities in science.

A presumption of incompetence: One perspective on the issues of women and minorities in science.

Oct 16 2013 | comment(s)

To many the label "scientist" has a residue of meaning a certain kind of white male.  Western society in particular loves labels and loves to put people in tiny boxes.  This story is about the social consequence of violating the norm of western society in regards to who fits the label "scientist". 

The incident that caused a million clacking keyboards in the science blogosphere involved Sci Am blogger Danielle N. Lee being called a "Urban Whore" when she refused to blog for free at another publication.  The quote from someone identified only as 'Ofek' who worked for Biology Online was 
Accelerator on a chip? Not so fast.

Accelerator on a chip? Not so fast.

Sep 30 2013 | comment(s)

Most stories on the so called "accelerator on a chip" either fail to mention or deeply bury an important detail.     This device needs to be primed by a conventional accelerator.   In doing so, they give the wrong impression of what has been developed.

First, this is an important advance in accelerator physics and a really cool example of what can be done with the creative use of common scientific apparatus and materials.   It is advances like this that will make next generation high energy physics affordable.   

With that out of the way....
An open Letter on Syria : Mr. President, If rebellion broke out in the USA would you not use force to suppress it?

An open Letter on Syria : Mr. President, If rebellion broke out in the USA would you not use force to suppress it?

Aug 31 2013 | comment(s)

I do not care for Bashar Al-Assad and, given his actions, he deserves to be hung by the rebels.  The question must be asked of you Mr President, if rebellion broke out in the USA would you not use force to suppress it? 
If half of the states, or say, every state west of the Mississippi decided they did not want you to be president would you just let them go?  Would you seek to divide our properties with them and let them go peaceably?    
Law Vs. the Laws of Science. My observations on jury duty as compared to collaborative science.

Law Vs. the Laws of Science. My observations on jury duty as compared to collaborative science.

Aug 17 2013 | comment(s)

Applying the laws of men to murky facts is almost as hard as determining the laws of nature.   In science we have clear experimental and observational data and tease out the laws of science.   In the law the facts are in question the laws are known.  It was hard to decide but the guy clearly chopped up his wife, just kidding.  The case wasn't nearly that interesting.
Massive star forming cores and outflows found by analysis of astronomical data

Massive star forming cores and outflows found by analysis of astronomical data

Jul 06 2013 | comment(s)

Like gems hidden in mountains of sand, I have sifted through vast amounts of data which have been gathered by surveys covering wide areas of the sky at particular wavelengths, and found likely star forming cores, hints of circumstellar disk and outflows in regions of massive star formation. The procedural lesson from my masters thesis is that there are discoveries waiting to be made by comparing data sets gathered at different frequencies, and by conducting coordinated multi-spectral surveys of massive star forming regions. 

Windows 8.1 preview review: VIDEO of installation and gaming under Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 preview review: VIDEO of installation and gaming under Windows 8.1

Jul 01 2013 | comment(s)

From the perspective of a power user who games on Windows what is Windows 8.1 like? Here is my answer to those questions in the form of a video. A word of caution do not use this preview unless you are really computer savvy. Who knows what could go wrong on different hardware than mine, which was made by/for Windows 8.