Mika McKinnon

Tribbles Invade NASA’s Flying Telescope During Nichelle Nichols’s Observing Run

When NASA’s airborne telescope was invaded by Tribbles, Nichelle Nichols was on-hand to keep them in check so the team could focus on with their observing run. NASA brought Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols and a pack of educators as Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors on their Spetember 16, 2015 observing run on the SOFIA airborne telescope. The…

A Huge Earthquake Just Shook Chile

A massive earthquake just hit off the coast of Chile. At magnitude of 8.3 and a tsunami warning in effect, this could have been ugly. Here’s the science behind the earthquake, how Chile’s preparations are paying off, and what we can expect for the shaken country. The Earthquake: What We Know so far An earthquake…

My Clock is Not a Bomb, and Other Tales of Threat-Free Tinkering

Today’s edition of Irrational Fear is Squishing Science left me pondering: What projects have you been working on that would get you hassled by the wire-fearful? And could you actually build a clock without looking up instructions? A depressing reoccurring theme in the United States is that students of colour should not attempt science or…

51 Favourite Photos from Astronaut Scott Kelly’s First Six Months in Space

Commander Scott Kelly is halfway through his year in space today. While his body is slowly degrading into a mess of bulging eyeballs and atrophied muscles, his artistic sensibilities are being kept in shape with an endless array of gorgeous settings to photograph for our vicarious viewing pleasure. April 5, 2015: The Easter Bunny visits…

The world can never have too much excellent science writing. 3 Quarks Daily has their annual nomination list of articles ready for you to read, learn something new, and vote on your favourites. Disclosure: Yes, that’s my Guide to Pluto holding down the dwarf-planet nomination.

We’ve Never Filmed a Blue Jet from Space, Until Today

Lightning is beautiful and sprites delightful, but pulsating blue jets are even more fascinating when zapping out the top of an epic storm. Astronaut Andreas Mogensen captured the first-ever video of blue jets as seen from the International Space Station. Mogensen was the first astronaut from Denmark to leave the planet, and managed to get…

This Is Some of the Best Cosplay We’ve Seen in Ages

Long Beach Comic Con and Space Expo invaded southern California for a weekend of costumes, spaceflight, and science. From superheroes with a twist to fuzzy stormtroopers in tutus to gorgeous original creations, this is some seriously impressive cosplay! Thanks to photographer Davann Srey, who was there taking photos for us! It wasn’t all costumes and…

Even Lunar Rovers Require a Touch of Personalizing Flair

What is the most important part of any off-planet exploration vehicle? A nice dash of flair in the form of a raccoon tail dangling from the tailgate. The Apollo 15 astronauts Jim Irwin and Dave Scott were the first off-planet drivers, taking a lunar rover for a spin around Hadley Rille in 1971. But before…

Dragon Con Day 4: No Sleep, Sore Feet, and Still Going With Great Costumes

By Monday morning of Dragon Con, most people were packing up to leave Atlanta. And yet some cosplayers persevered, and the flood of awesome costumed characters continued. Here’s the best of what we saw on the final day of the popular culture convention. Owen takes his velociraptor Blue, Delta, Echo and Charlie on vacation from…

Dragon Con Day 3: the Cosplay Keeps Getting Better and Better

Every day our photo galleries of the astonishing cosplay at Dragon Con in Atlanta just keeps getting longer with near-overwhelming creativity. Today we’re featuring the dystopian future of Mad Max, a swarm of superheroes, and the champions of League of Legends. Wonder Woman. Image credit: Boon Vong Image credit: Boon Vong Supergirls flanking a Na’vi.…

I Ventured Near Dragon Con’s Artists and now I Have No Money

Merely wandering through the Artists’s Alley at Dragon Con was enough to clear my wallet of ugly dollar bills and fill my bag with awesome new art. If you’re in Atlanta, spend your last few hours on Monday doing the same. And if you’re far away? You’re in luck—many of these amazing artists sell their…

Dragon Con Day 2: Heroes, Monsters, and Gods Await You

The humidity is high and the party is rocking at Dragon Con in Atlanta. Here’s a sample of the fantastic cosplay we saw while wandering the hotel floors and crowded streets on Saturday. The Flying Spaghetti Monster (Teddi Fishman) is the best of all gods. Image credit: Mika McKinnon Kosh (Billy Brooks) and Londo Mollari…

In Space, Yesterday’s Coffee is Today’s Coffee

Do you still wish you could be an astronaut after watching the lung-flattening launches and bone-crunching landings? Has the eyeball-oscillating gimbal failed to dampen your spirits? What if we told you that coffee, the most precious of nectars essential for civilized behaviour, will be brewed from your own pee? Astronauts Eric Boe [back left], Michael…

Dragon Con Day 1: Cosplayers Create a World Full of Terror and Wonder

Dragon Con is in full swing in Atlanta, and hordes of cosplayers are strutting their stuff. From popular culture favourites to original creations, here’s what we found while shuffling along crowded lobbies and dodging traffic on the streets. Muldoon and Dr. Sattler (Angela Schulz and Megan Fisher) respond to the latest breakout from Jurassic Park.…

New Horizons Restarts Sending Pretty, Pretty Data Home Today!

It’s coming, it’s coming! The New Horizons space probe starts its intensive data downlink phase today! You know what that means? New, never-seen photos of the dwarf planet are coming right at us! Squee!! New Horizons has tens of gigabits of data from the Pluto flyby which will be downlinked via the Deep Space Network…

A Foggy Morning Adds Surrealism to the Wonder of Spaceflight

November 30, 1982: A foggy morning before the inaugural flight of the Space Shuttle Challenger offered no hint to the troubles that would plague the mission. On top of an over two-month launch delay, a malfunction placed the shuttle in a too-low orbit for the first shuttle-based spacewalk and satellite deployment. Space Shuttle Challenger pierced…

13 Ways That Science Fiction’s Vision of the Future is Closer Than You Think

Now that we’re reaching the date depicted in Back to the Future, there’s inevitably a lot of good-hearted ribbing about how we want our damn hoverboards. Plus where’s our flying cars? And so on. But while a few pieces of the science-fictional future have yet to materialize, plenty of others that are already here. The…

Dragon Con Day 0: Cosplayers Invade Atlanta

Dragon Con hasn’t even technically started yet, and already the hotels of downtown Atlanta are swarming with popular culture enthusiasts in full costume. Here are some of the cosplayers who caught our eye the during our first night prowling the floor. Bad Presidents’ George Washington is prepared to defend his homeland. Image credit: Zac Fudge/Thought…

Julia Turner pens a deliciously quotable ode to geology as part of Slate’s Classes You Should Take series. From the “dense poetry” of the technical vocabulary to how unravelling what shapes our planet can “feel like X-ray vision or a sixth sense,” you’ll finish convinced that geology is more than rocks for jocks. Tip via…

How NASA Created a Flight Simulator for the First Astronauts Landing on the Moon

December 5, 1961. A man at the controls of a module gazes at the lunar surface from close up. Is this an astronaut, approaching the Moon nearly eight years before Apollo 11? Nope—it’s a pilot testing Project LOLA, a massive network of hand-painted mosaics and tracked cameras that trained astronauts for the moon landings. Test…