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Stories like " Rip Foster Rides the Gray Planet " and " Red Dwarf 's" Dave Lister singing "...Lived an old plutonium miner / And his daughter Clementine..." probably didn't help make asteroid mining seem like a serious idea. Then there's the 1966 Outer Space Treaty treaty: a tribute to the high ideals, and international politics, of the '60s. The idea was that anything we find outside Earth's atmosphere would belong to everyone. Nifty idea, not entirely wrong, and I'll get back to that. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Humans sleep , which shouldn't be surprising. Just about all critters with brains sleep: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish — even insects and nematodes experience something like sleep. Poets and playwrights have written of sleep.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Some scientist think globular clusters aren't good places to look for neighbors. Others took a fresh look at the data, crunched numbers, and pointed out that parts of globular clusters might be better spots for interstellar civilizations that the boonies where we live. Meanwhile, someone with a lot more money that I'll ever see decided to spend some of it on a systematic search for extraterrestrial intelligence. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

The Curiosity Mars Rover sent a 'postcard' from Mars, a 360-degree view of dunes and a mountain in Gale Crater.... ...As usual, I'll ramble on about science, technology, and being human before getting to the interesting stuff: assuming that you think a robotic selfie from Mars is interesting. Not-entirely-as-usual, I wasn't finished rambling when I started the 'postcard' stuff, so this post has an afterword. I've done that before.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Robots have orbited Mars, landed there, driven around, taken pictures, and studied Martian rocks. But humanity's exploration of Mars has been by proxy: Nobody's gotten farther from Earth than Lunar orbit. That could change before 2040. NASA has worked out a step-by-step plan for getting humans back into deep space: provided that Congress doesn't change its mind. Even if that happens, my guess is that it wouldn't be long before someone else decides that people should act like humans.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

First of all: Merry Christmas! I'll have something more seasonally-appropriate ready by Sunday. That's the plan, at least. Today I'll be talking about spaceships, practical and otherwise: and why NASA cancelled InSight's March 2016 launch.... ...Instead of trying to analyze the reasons, I'll just get started with the December 1938 issue of Amazing Stories, Columbus, Robert Goddard, the Hanseatic League, and why airlines don't use disposable airplanes — not necessarily in that order.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists following up on Kepler observations learned that a bit over half of the objects tentatively identified as giant planets are brown dwarfs or stars. We've also learned that Saturn's moon Enceladus has a vast ocean under its icy surface: with all the ingredients needed for life.... ...If you've read my 'science' posts before, you know why I think Earth isn't flat ; the universe is billions , not thousands, of years old; poetry isn't science ; and thinking is not a sin .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

That's part of a picture from New Horizons: a sample from the highest-resolution images the spacecraft has started sending back. We're pretty sure that the mountains are frozen water, and the flat parts softer "ice:" probably including frozen nitrogen. The first journal paper using New Horizons' flyby data was published in October: but there's a great deal left to study, and even more still stored on New Horizons. ( November 13, 2015 ) Other scientists think they've found evidence that those bright spots in Occator Crater are frozen water, exposed when something hit Ceres. If they're right, the impact(s) happened recently. I'll get back to that. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Climate change talks in Paris started this week, with the usual protesters and editorials. Meanwhile, folks in Minnesota are shopping at Christmas tree farms: and a performance artist in Beijing made a brick from smog.... ...I'm convinced that climate change happens: and has been happening since before life began on Earth, 3,800,000,000 or so years back. As I've said before, the natural world got along fine without us. Now that we're here, however, we're responsible for its maintenance.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

First, the good news: releasing genetically-modified medflies and mosquitoes may mean fewer crop failures; and fewer deaths from malaria. Now, the not-so-good news: I'm pretty sure some folks won't think it's good news.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I stopped using the term " Caucasian " several years ago. I've discussed the "Anglo-Teutonic" race, Neanderthals, and getting a grip, before. ( September 25, 2015 ; October 31, 2014 ) Turns out, folks from the Caucasus moved into Europe at least once — along with many other folks.... We're still learning about humanity's family history. It's a lot more complicated than we thought.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Before the New Horizons mission, we knew Pluto was very cold, had little or no atmosphere, and that was about it. ( October 30, 2015 ; July 10, 2015 ) Now scientists think they've spotted 'ice volcanoes' on Pluto that look a lot like shield volcanoes on Earth and Mars.... ...we're rational creatures, created in the image of God, and "little less than a god." Studying this universe, and using that knowledge is part of our job. So is using our power responsibly.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists may have observed chimpanzees in different groups using a different sound when they mean "apple." Then again, maybe not. Either way, we're learning more about chimpanzees. Pliobates cataloniae, an ape that lived where Catalonia is now, had a gibbon-like skull: but apparently is more closely related to today's gorillas, chimps, orangutans — and us. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Images sent back from New Horizons gave scientists their first opportunity to see how big Kerberos is. It's much smaller than they expected, which raises new questions. Meanwhile, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's instruments provided evidence that there's running water on Mars: every summer, on some crater slopes. It's not the Mars of Burroughs' Barsoom tales: but I think the planet is getting more interesting, the more we learn about it. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

(From Alex Alishevskikh, cyberborean.org; via Flikr and Space.com, used w/o permission.) (" Trail of the object that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013. " (Space.com)) Asteroid 2015 TB 145 won't hit Earth, but it will be only slightly farther from us than the Moon at 1:05 p.m. EDT, 5:05 p.m. UTC, October 31. I've talked about asteroids, Earth Time, and why thinking ahead makes sense, before.... ...Fifty years ago, we probably wouldn't have noticed an incoming asteroid until very shortly before it hit. Even if we did, there wouldn't have been much we could do, apart from praying — and that's another topic.... More at More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Bits of carbon encased in zircon crystals more than four billion years ago may have come from living creatures. Then again, maybe not. Either way, we're learning more about Earth's long story.... ...This space-time continuum doesn't work like Anaximander 's model, either. Anaximander's cosmology had Earth in the center: but he speculated that we might not be standing on the only world, and that worlds change. Aristotle's cosmology had Earth in the center of the universe, too: but he didn't think multiple worlds existed. About 16 centuries later, educated Europeans like Dante Alighieri had a very high opinion of Aristotle.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

We're years away from safe pig-to-human organ transplants: but scientists using CRISPR gene editing tech are working toward that goal. Other scientists are discovering a chapter of humanity's family history: Eurasian immigrants returning to Africa, when the Shang dynasty and Egyptian Empire collapsed. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Kidney failure isn't always fatal these days. Hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis can keep someone alive until a transplant donor shows up. Kidney problems kill about a million folks each year. It's not the leading cause of death for my 7,250,000,000-plus neighbors, but that's still a lot of deaths. Scientists in Japan grew working kidneys in rats and pigs. We're years away from grow-your-own kidneys for patients: but I think that's coming. Meanwhile, a scientist in England wants permission to collect people for genetic experiments. The Francis Crick Institute, Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, and BBC News describe the proposal more discretely. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Scientists from University of the Witwatersrand found skeletal remains in South Africa's Rising Star Cave . This is a big deal, since it's the largest collection of hominin bones found in a single spot: and these folks may have been burying their dead 2,500,000 years ago. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Neanderthals apparently had bigger eyes than folks living today. One scientist says that means they didn't play well with others. Bonobos , chimps living south of the Congo River, squeak. The squeaks are the same, whether they're happy, sad, or angry — and may tell us something about how language developed.... ...I think accepting God's universe 'as is' makes sense, so I'll ramble on about hubris, movies, and St. Thomas Aquinas, before discussing Neanderthals and squeaking bonobos .... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .