Kate Rauner's Blog

I draw the western shadesAs the sun dips low.Land still holds the summer’s heatThough autumn breezes blow.

It’s too far away to start holding your breath, but astronauts aim to blast out beyond Low Earth Orbit for the first time in over 50 years. On a ten-day mission around the Moon, they’ll test their rocket and spacecraft in preparation for future missions. The mission’s Space Launch System rocket has been stacked and […]

Good news from Down Under. [The night parrot] is one of the most elusive and mysterious birds in the world, with no confirmed sightings between 1912 and 1979, leading to speculation that it was extinct. Wikipedia One of them was found in western Queensland in 1990. [But the] specimen was dead. Then, another dead night … … Continue reading →

A previously unknown species of bacteria was collected on China’s Tiangong space station and returned to Earth in 2023. You read that right – an aerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria was living on a hardware surface inside the space station. This isn’t the first time, won’t be the last, and strikes me as inevitable. Astronauts carry […]

The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from radio waves to gamma rays – with heat, visible light, and sunburn-causing UV somewhere in the middle where you detect them with your eyes and skin. You know that, at least in general terms, right? And maybe know that UV vision, outside the range of human eyesight, is common in […]

Wild Galapagos tomatoes are in the news. I cringe at the way media outlets are phrasing this: “Tomatoes growing on the Galápagos Islands appear to be going back in time by producing the same toxins their ancestors did millions of years ago.” Smithsonian No. Toxins, yes; time travel, no. Just, no. An established trope casts […]

Whatever genre you read, you’ll find great books and great deals in July. Whether you’re enjoying the Northern Hemisphere summer heat or bundling up in the Southern Hemisphere’s winter, this annual sale is a great time to find your next favorite book! Including my book, Rhyme and Reason Poetry Inspired by Science, 50% off all […]

What does everyone need? A good book! For the first week of July, price reductions for the first book in each of two of my science fiction series. Snap these up now while the sale lasts. Journey into a near future filled with science and speculative possibilities on Saturn’s frozen moon, Titan. Click here now. … … Continue reading →

The Big Bang generated hydrogen and helium. So, what created all the other elements? You and I, and every other bit of matter: We are made of star stuff. Everything started with hydrogen and helium in the Big Bang, but then what? Exploding stars, dying stars, neutron stars… a lot can happen in 14 billion […]

Here’s a quick share of an article from the Smithsonian. You may have heard of Otzi, the mummified body found frozen in the Alps. He and his 5,000-year-old gear are preserved amazingly well. This latest research examines how that preservation came about: A fine example of how science works. Science can now date organic materials […]