One of the things that I’ve always found fascinating about humans is their ability to completely ignore the miraculous when it’s commonplace.  Flies walk across the ceiling in apparent defiance of the same gravity that keeps us stuck to the floor.  But we stop wondering about it after about the age of three when the curiosity gene meets the implacable resistance of the surrounding adults.  After the thousandth repetition of “I don’t know” or “Stop asking questions!” curiosity isn’t fun anymore.  I think that may be what distinguishes the true scientist.  They NEVER stop asking “Why?” But there’s still plenty of wonder in your very own house if you just think about it.  If you’re no longer curious about the flies, just have a look at that gecko on the ceiling. This week, we will explore the science of Gecko feet. Tune in, you might just be surprised at this high tech creature!   MORE>>

One of the things that strikes many natives of Guam when they travel to the mainland US (or virtually anywhere else in the world) is the abundance of birds.  Birds are something you don’t miss if you haven’t grown up with them, and sadly, the children of Guam think that sparrows, pigeons and chickens are the only kinds of birds there are.  Guam lost almost all its wild bird population in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s to the brown tree snake in an ecological disaster that was widely reported at the time.  All the songbirds (and several of them were found only on Guam) became snake snacks. Unfortunately, it now appears that Guam may not be alone.  Birdsongs that filled the childhoods of countless baby-boomers in the mainland US are rarely heard wafting on today’s spring breezes. This week, the focus of the DEEP turns to the question; Where have all the Birdies Gone?   MORE>>

I’ve discovered over the years that one of the most popular space-related misconceptions is that Earth is the only planet, indeed the only place, in the solar system that has water.  I am constantly amazed at the frequent news headlines that this robot or that scientist has made the astounding discovery that there’s water on Mars.  This is, in fact, very old news.  We’ve known for at least 200 years that the northern Martian ice cap is mostly water ice (the southern cap is mostly dry ice or frozen carbon dioxide). This week, we will discuss the implications of this massive misconception.   MORE>>

Last July I wrote an article about the future of man in space and it wasn’t an article about NASA.  The recent return of the astronauts overshadowed the launch of a different kind of space vehicle from the Russian cosmodrome.  On 28 June 2007, Bigelow Aerospace launched Genesis 2. As I told you last year, the Genesis spacecraft are the prototypes of the first inflatable space habitats.  Yes, you read that right; they are both big balloons. This week, we will be talking about a Los Vegas based firm that is gambling on making a visit to space a paying commercial proposition! MORE>>