Posts by

Deborah Byrd

SpaceX launch on historic mission to ISS

The SpaceX Falcon-9 rocket successfully blasted off this morning and is now on its way to a history-making journey to the International Space Station.

Deborah Byrd

May 22, 2012

View from space: First named storm of 2012 Atlantic hurricane season

The storm watch for Tropical Storm Alberto along the U.S. East Coast was discontinued yesterday (May 20) as 5 p.m. EDT. See the view from space here.

Deborah Byrd

May 21, 2012

Earthquake in northern Italy on May 20

It was a very strong earthquake to shake the region, seismologists said. Older buildings suffered damage: collapsed roofs, cracks in buildings. At least four reported dead.

Deborah Byrd

May 20, 2012

Solar flare effects expected May 19

Beautiful movie of another CME leaving the sun's surface on May 17. Goodbye sunspot 1476 and hello solar flare!

Deborah Byrd

May 18, 2012

Urban heat island effect has upside for oaks in NYC

Red oaks in New York City grew eight times faster than rural oaks. Scientists think the the urban heat island effect was the primary reason.

Deborah Byrd

May 17, 2012

NASA spacecraft spots 12-mile-high Martian dust devil

The NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught sight of this beauty as it whirled on the sands of the Amazonis Planitia region of northern Mars.

Deborah Byrd

May 16, 2012

Solar storm effects may give Earth a glancing blow on May 14

Effects of a coronal mass ejection from huge sunspot region 1476 will deliver a glancing blow (solar storm) to Earth today, while in route to Mars.

Deborah Byrd

May 14, 2012

Did the moon help sink the Titanic?

Several months before the Titanic's fateful encounter with an iceberg, the moon had been closer to Earth than in 1,400 years, and it was full just six minutes before.

Deborah Byrd

May 14, 2012

Plastic in Pacific is changing ocean habitats, study shows

In the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, plastic has increased by 100 times over in past 40 years. Some sea creatures are now laying their eggs on plastic.

Deborah Byrd

May 13, 2012

Robots used to retrieve valuable info from living brains

Researchers have developed robots - a robot arm guided by a cell-detecting computer algorithm - to identify and record information from the brain's neurons.

Deborah Byrd

May 13, 2012

Deborah Byrd

Deborah Byrd (asteroid 3505 Byrd) helps edit EarthSky.org and is a frequent host of EarthSky videos. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named in her honor in 1990, a Public Service Award from the National Science Board in 2003, and the Education Prize from the American Astronomical Society in 2020. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. "Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers," she says.