Alex Howe
Alex Howe
@scimeetsfiction.bsky.social
Astrophysicist at NASA Goddard studying exoplanets.
Also podcaster and sci-fi writer. Opinions are my own.
NASA isn't directly mentioned in the bill. It's a clean CR, meaning it continues the current funding from FY25 (which itself is a full-year CR extending the funding from FY24).
September 19, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Their website is talking about using it for energy generation, which immediately makes me question if it's even legit. I can't see how the numbers would work for that.
August 21, 2025 at 7:41 PM
I read the definitions. It's a clunky knockoff of the Torino Scale that looks like there was no thought given to building a technosignature scale that actually meets the needs of the field.
August 14, 2025 at 11:04 AM
The gas giant moon systems show a lot of similarities to peas-in-a-pod systems. People have even suggested similar formation mechanisms for them.

Titan is an outlier, but the Jupiter formation process would not produce something like it. It might not have a clear analog in the planet population.
March 3, 2025 at 4:45 AM
And as far as I can tell, the speed of the elevator is NOT the limiting factor. The work is done inside the mine. The problem is that the federal rules for retirement are so byzantine that it takes months to process each case. 3/3
February 12, 2025 at 1:11 PM