The Galactic Inquirer

Cosmochemistry and Astrobiology

GAAC Meeting, October 9 2020, with Robert Naeye and Finding Life on Other Worlds

Are we alone or do we share our solar system and galaxy with other forms of life? And how widespread are advanced civilizations with whom we could communicate? Right now we don’t have answers to these profound questions. But scientists are in hot pursuit...

Perspective: The Case for Coordinating Earth & Space Science Education

In this essay, I argue in support of teaching the Earth & space sciences together, so that students can attain a more holistic understanding of their planetary environment, how it came to be, and where it is headed. Such teaching (and teachers) should receive the same priority as in the teaching of physics, chemistry, and biology.

Book Review: Alan Lightman’s The Accidental Universe, The World You Thought You Knew

There has always been a lot of conflict and contention between religion and science, arguably since the beginning of human abstract thought. Everyone has an opinion on how the two interact, intermingle, or completely repel against each other. The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew is simply one man’s opinion written into a book.

Book Review: Andy Weir’s The Martian

Andrew Taylor “Andy” Weir is an American novelist born on June 16, 1972 in Davis, California, USA. He is best known for his science fiction novel, The Martian, which was written and self-published in 2011. Three years later, Crown Publishing purchased the rights and re-released it.

Earth and Space Report #2: Comparing Planetary Climates, and Why We Should Take Heed

Earth sits right in the Goldilocks zone. Venus, only a little closer to the sun, has a surface hot enough to melt lead, and Mars is cold enough to have dry ice -- C02 -- at its poles. What can the atmospheres of these three planets tell us about the future of our climate?

Why We Explore Earth and Space

I have no doubt that we will become an interplanetary species, within two decades and that we will likely find the existence of life, or past life, on another planetary body, within the next decade.

Extraterrestrial Anthropomorphism

Perhaps because of their tremendous popularity, Hollywood’s sci-fi films have exerted a powerful influence on our psyches – piquing our curiosity and igniting our imagination regarding life beyond Earth.

The Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Martin Annis, Ph.D. (Founder - American Science and Engineering) We have overlooked an important source of information in our search for life on Earth-like planets...

Latest news

Dispatches from the Cosmos — Winter 2025

William H. Waller What a difference a wintry month can make.  On January 13-16, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) held...

Sticking Close to Home #3 — Forming Planets

To form a solar system, the literature says that in a simulation like this we can ignore the gravity of the Sun and just concentrate on the interaction of the objects in the protoplanetary disk.The gas, dust and other objects rotate around the forming Sun in Keplerian orbital motion...

We’re All Healthier Under a Starry Sky

Blue wavelengths of light are damaging to many forms of life, and glare from unshielded light compromises road safety and infiltrates bedrooms, suppressing melatonin production, undermining sleep quality and duration, and exacerbating susceptibility to many kinds of illness...

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Why We Explore Earth and Space

I have no doubt that we will become an interplanetary species, within two decades and that we will likely find the existence of life, or past life, on another planetary body, within the next decade.

December 11 GAAC Meeting, with Guest Robert Naeye and “A Cosmic Conundrum”

If the Big Bang theory is correct, how fast is the universe expanding? Astronomers are facing a troubling disconnect between different methods used to measure the expansion rate, known as the Hubble constant. The two methods are giving similar but slightly different rates. Either one method is providing inaccurate results, or there is some kind of unknown physics operating in the universe.

Interstellar Communications

Introduction: It took less than two billion years for our...