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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...

No, Trump’s Executive Orders Can’t Cancel Your Rights.

Donald Trump does not have the power to rescind either constitutional amendments or federal laws...

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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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Nuclear disasters, such as Japan's, due to natural disaster can happen anywhere! Here is why and what we can do about it.

Nuclear disasters, such as Japan's, due to natural disaster can happen anywhere! Here is why and what we can do about it.

Mar 15 2011 | comment(s)

99942Apophis A asteroid which if it were to hit earth would hit off the coast of California and do damage similar to the Earthquake. A 9.0 magnitude earthquake is equal to about 450 megatons of TNT being set off underground.  Due to the situation at the Daiichi nuclear plant near in Sendai Japan there is much talk of how nuclear plants should not be built in earthquake zones.
Where to see the Lunar Eclipse if it's cloudy

Where to see the Lunar Eclipse if it's cloudy

Dec 20 2010 | comment(s)

Where can one see the lunar eclipse online or at a viewing party.  Here are a couple of options and how to find out.

The best option would be to watch the eclipse online via NASA's live feed of the eclipse from Huntsville Alabama. Which I have embedded right here. 
The difference between matter, antimatter, dark matter, and negative matter

The difference between matter, antimatter, dark matter, and negative matter

Nov 18 2010 | comment(s)

Here I will explain the difference between matter, anti matter, dark matter, and negative matter in a concise and understandable way.   I have seen confusion pop up in various online forums and comments on the recent announced trapping of an anti atom by CERN. 

The first thing to know is that for a physicist there are four fundamental forces of nature which are always at work.  These are the familiar Gravity and  Electromagnetism, as well as the generally unfamiliar strong and weak atomic forces.   The atomic forces work on the length scale of atoms, Electromagnetism and gravity work on the length scale of the universe though in fundamentally different ways.
A quick lesson for the public on what scientific theories are and are not.

A quick lesson for the public on what scientific theories are and are not.

Sep 26 2010 | comment(s)

If you are a scientist in any field you have had to deal with a member of the public who did not understand the word theory.  This blog post intends to be a simple explanation for the willing but confused. 
What are theories how are they arrived at? 

The word theory has it's roots in the scientific method.  (In order to divorce this from creationism or the theory that the ancient Egyptians were really black Africans and other emotionally charged topics I shall write in Abstract terms. )

The scientific method has several basic steps.  

  1. Observation of some phenomena.    


Cyberstalking of me by the Organisation Internationale des Intersexués OII

Cyberstalking of me by the Organisation Internationale des Intersexués OII

Sep 11 2010 | comment(s)

Cyberstalking as a way of trying to bully someone into giving them what they want on line.  A certain website was set up just to slander me by The  Organisation Intersex International  OII.    Now one Katrina C Rose a Phd candidate in history at U Iowa has gotten into the act. I have responded to OII's inane comments before.  Now evidence emerges that people are keeping tabs on what I do online.  That's something else entirely. 
 
Cataclysmic cuts in European science.

Cataclysmic cuts in European science.

Sep 07 2010 | comment(s)

The Washington Post reports on massive cuts across the world of European science.  The impact on young scientist will be devastating as their research is placed on hold.  All 12 accelerators at CERN will be mothballed for at least a year.  The European Space Agency will face deep budget cuts as well.



The people who will not be deeply effected by this are the tenured professors.  One year off will just be a year with pay for them.   The people I worry about, the people who will be most effected by this, their graduate students.