Nuclear doomsday fears a daily nightmare for former defense secretary

Nuclear doomsday fears a daily nightmare for former defense secretary

William J. Perry is on a mission to warn of a “real and growing danger” of nuclear doom. The 88-year-old former defense secretary [in the Clinton administration] is troubled by the risks of catastrophe from the very weapons he helped develop. Atop his list: a nuclear terror attack in a major U.S. city or a […]

Neighboring galaxy is same size as our own

Neighboring galaxy is same size as our own

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Petri Kehusmaa, Harlingten Atacama Observatory] Large spiral galaxy NGC 4945 is seen edge-on near the center of this cosmic galaxy portrait. In fact, NGC 4945 is almost the size of our own Milky Way Galaxy. Its own dusty disk, young blue star clusters, and pink star forming regions standout […]

Dying, nearby dwarf star is 12 time hotter than our sun

Dying, nearby dwarf star is 12 time hotter than our sun

[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Adam Block, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, Univ. Arizona] The gorgeous, gaseous shroud of a dying sun-like star, planetary nebula Abell 36 lies a mere 800 light-years away in the constellation of Virgo. Shrugging off its outer layers, the nebula’s central star is contracting and becoming hotter, evolving towards a final […]

Russia floating reactors concept spurs proliferation, terrorism fears

Russia floating reactors concept spurs proliferation, terrorism fears

Russian efforts to make electricity available to isolated areas with a planned class of floating nuclear reactors could represent the most potentially disastrous idea to sweep the atomic power industry in years, due in part to the threat such plants would face from extremists and entities interested in tapping their technology for military use, Reuters […]