TL;DR: The planets’ orbital shapes, tilts and spins oscillate due to the gravity of the other planets — this has a strong effect on Earth’s climate. On billion-year timescales the terrestrial planets’ orbits are chaotic and cannot be predicted precisely. … More Billion-year evolution of the Solar System: climate forcing and orbital chaos
Welcome to Real-life Sci-fi worlds. I use science to explore life-bearing worlds that are the settings for science fiction stories. Up today: a desert planet like Arrakis from the classic Dune books (and the movie and miniseries). A tribute for author Frank Herbert‘s birthday (a couple days late). Dune is one of the all-time classic … More Real-life sci-fi world #5: a Dune planet (Arrakis)
Welcome to Real-life Sci-fi worlds. We are using science to explore life-bearing worlds that are the settings for science fiction stories. Up today: an Earth-like planet orbiting a brown dwarf. Setting Planets have been found orbiting all kinds of stars. Stars like the Sun. Stars brighter and fainter than the Sun. Giant stars. Planets have … More Real-life sci-fi world #4: Earth around a brown dwarf
A desert world with two suns in the sky. The jungle-covered moon of a gas giant planet. A planet completely enveloped in ice. A stormy ocean-covered world. A planet infested with bubbling lava fields. These are the settings for science fiction stories. They paint pictures of other worlds. Where life can exist but things are … More Introducing Real-life Sci-fi Worlds
Giraffes are covered in patches. The patches are brown and the space in between the patches is white. Everyone knows this. Here is something you probably didn’t know: you can see those patches in infrared light. In simple terms, infrared light measures heat (at least at the temperatures we are used to in everyday life). … More Giraffes and planets
PLANETPLANET 