Spec Tech: How Close is too Close for Supernovae?

Every day throughout the universe old stars are exploding in fantastic, trembling concussions of mass and energy. Suffice it to say that you wouldn’t want to be next door when this happened. But just how close is too close? Is there a minimum safe distance from supernovae for an Earth-like planet? The exact answer is—of……

Spec Tech: Space Debris

Every once in a while there a news station hears about some satellite collision or some rocket upper stage failure and, briefly, we are reminded about the problem of space junk. Over the last 53 years of humans launching objects into space we have gotten into the habit of leaving some extra pieces floating around.……