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miscellanymiscellany
+6+6
Protons are very, very small
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Protons are very, very small

It takes a lot of them to fit across an orange, for example. And a mole, too.

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+5+5
I experienced a meteoric rise in my understanding

I experienced a meteoric rise in my understanding

Connecting facts for that “aha” moment

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
exoplanetsexoplanets
+2+2
Dinky stars don’t make giant planets, or even middle-sized giants
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Dinky stars don’t make giant planets, or even middle-sized giants

Low-mass red dwarfs show a paucity of mini-Neptunes. It’s not clear why.

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
MarsMars
+7+7
See Venus and Jupiter tonight! Plus: Phobos isn’t hollow. Shocker.
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See Venus and Jupiter tonight! Plus: Phobos isn’t hollow. Shocker.

The two brightest planets are close together after sunset. And, the tiny moon of Mars is not artificial. Probably.

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+4+4
Space is way bigger than you think

Space is way bigger than you think

Go ahead and think about it. Nope, it’s bigger. Try again. Nope, still too small. This game can go on a long time.

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
climate changeclimate change
+3+3
Bennu holds on to rocks, Antarctica is paradoxically gaining ice
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Bennu holds on to rocks, Antarctica is paradoxically gaining ice

A tiny asteroid retains small rocks even with low gravity, and Antarctica net ice loss reverses even as gross ice loss increases

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+4+4
How to debunk various levels of nonsense... from scientists in the trenches

How to debunk various levels of nonsense... from scientists in the trenches

Research published on how scientists can help stamp out the spread of disinformation

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
dustdust
+5+5
JWST sees massive stars clearing away their dusty, gaseous birth blankets

JWST sees massive stars clearing away their dusty, gaseous birth blankets

A survey of four nearby galaxies reveals important details on how these beasts are born

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
MarsMars
+7+7
Radioactive cosmic dust is raining down on Earth’s surface

Radioactive cosmic dust is raining down on Earth’s surface

It sounds worse than it is. In fact, it’s really cool and telling us about our local galactic neighborhood

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
miscellanymiscellany
+6+6
No aliens for Boyajian’s Star, and trees reach up to connect electrically with the sky
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No aliens for Boyajian’s Star, and trees reach up to connect electrically with the sky

The star seems to have settled its unsettling behavior down, and corona discharges from trees finally seen in the wild

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
supernovaesupernovae
+5+5
Record-breaking JWST observation shows the universe’s first stars were better alchemists than we thought

Record-breaking JWST observation shows the universe’s first stars were better alchemists than we thought

Astronomers find more oxygen than expected in an incredibly distant galaxy

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
MarsMars
+4+4
Farewell Mars, and bigger black holes form by eating each other

Farewell Mars, and bigger black holes form by eating each other

Psyche takes a parting shot of the red planet; black holes in the “mass gap” form by merging two smaller black holes

Philip Plait
Philip Plait
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