Newly found Comet Leonard might become 2021’s brightest

The first comet to be found in 2021 – labeled C/2021 A1 (Leonard) – might become the brightest comet of this year! Charts and more info here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/bright-comet-c-2021-a1-leonard-2021-2022…

Google’s Annual Spectacle at CES is No More, With Tech Show Going Virtual

One of the biggest disappointments from CES 2021 going virtual will be the lack of a splashy booth by Google. Whether you cared about the company’s bevy of Google Assistant-related announcements, it was hard to deny the stagecraft employed by the tech giant. From a report: For the last few years, Google boasted some of the most eye-catching CES booths, from…

The ‘Great’ Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

On Monday, December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will merge in the night sky in an astronomical event known as a “Great Conjunction,” appearing closer to one another than they have since Galileo’s time in the 17th century. NASA reports: The planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system, with the positions of Jupiter and Saturn being aligned in…

‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Players Are Fixing Parts of the Game Before CD Projekt

Cyberpunk 2077 is here in all its glory and pain. On some machines, it’s a visual spectacle pushing the limits of current technology and delivering on the promise of Deus Ex, but open world. On other machines, including last-gen consoles, it’s a unoptimized and barely playable nightmare. Developer CD Projekt Red has said it’s working to improve the game, but fans…

South American total solar eclipse December 14

The new moon moves smack-dab in front of the sun on December 14, 2020, to present this year’s one and only total eclipse of the sun. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/south-american-total-solar-eclipse-december-14…

The Best Way To Win a Horse Race? Mathematicians May Have the Answer

sciencehabit summarizes a new article from Science magazine: Attention racehorse jockeys: Start fast, but save enough energy for a final kick. That’s the ideal strategy to win short-distance horse races, according to the first mathematical model to calculate how horses use up energy in races. The researchers say the approach could be used to identify customized pacing plans that, in theory,…

Comet C/2020 M3 (Atlas) drawing nearer, in a great place to spot Wednesday night

The comet is headed for its closest approach to Earth on Saturday, November 14, 2020. It can’t be seen with the eye, but astrophotographers are capturing glorious images. Charts and photos in this post. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/comet-c-2020-m3-atlas-closest-to-earth-nov-14-2020…

Are the Best Star Wars Stories Now in Games Like ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’?

A game critic for the Los Angeles Times remembers his reaction to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. “What a disappointment — if only it had been built for video game consoles.” This leads to this epiphany:
For all the deserved attention “The Mandalorian” series on Disney+ has received, the just-released game “Star Wars: Squadrons” reminds us that some of the best…

Fireball produces sonic boom over Japan

A space rock created quite the spectacle when it lit up the night sky above Japan’s Kanto region recently. The phenomenon, which caught the attention … Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/337987/fireball-produces-sonic-boom-over-japan…

Huge bird catches ‘shark’ in new viral video

The spectacle of a bird catching an enormous fish has been captured on film at South Carolina’s Myrtle Beach. Birds of prey are some of nature’s most … Source: https://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/337966/huge-bird-catches-shark-in-new-viral-video…