Dr Jeffrey ScargleNASA Ames Research Center, retired. Image credit: (c) National Aeronautics and Space Administration Casual observation of the night sky leads one to view the Universe as well-ordered and stable, changing only in minor ways and regularly, smoothly and predictably at that. Even intensive study with telescopes — starting with Galileo, and including William […]

Michael CarrLeader of the Imaging Team for NASA on the Viking Orbiter and subsequent missions. Image credit: (c) NASA/THEMIS The history of water on Mars has huge implications for the possibility of life on Mars and the future of life on Earth. This is the first of two lectures on this subject, with the second […]

Dr Daniel BatcheldorSenior Scientist and Subject Matter Expert in Physics as a contractor at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Image credit: (c) JPL/NASA Moon Trek Humanity is preparing to return to the moon; this time not simply as tourists. Lunar regolith (dust) presents a risk when landing and operating anywhere on the lunar surface, but at […]

Prof. Michael (Mike) GarrettUniversity of ManchesterJodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics Image credit: NASA Energy-intensive civilisations are likely to have a significant impact on both their local and extended environments – we already see evidence for this here on Earth. Advanced technical civilisations may reveal themselves to other civilisations by introducing anomalous signals into astronomical data. […]

Dr. Fran BagenalLaboratory for Atmospheric and Space PhysicsUniversity of Colorado, Boulder Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Juno’s principal goal is to understand the origin and evolution of Jupiter. Underneath its dense cloud cover, Jupiter safeguards secrets to the fundamental processes and conditions that governed our solar system during its formation. As our primary example of a giant […]