Posts by

Deborah Byrd

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

Orbiting spacecraft shows Mars’ surprising shifting sands

An orbiting spacecraft shows sand dunes on Mars shift and move at about the same rate as earthly dunes. Yet Mars atmosphere is thin, and its winds are weak.

Deborah Byrd

May 11, 2012

Cassini spacecraft to sweep near Saturn moon Enceladus on May 2

NASA's Cassini spacecraft will fly within about 46 miles (74 kilometers) of Saturn's moon Enceladus on May 2,2012. Yay! More images of this moon's mysterious jets!

Deborah Byrd

May 2, 2012

Giant squid have such big eyes, why?

Giant squid have eyes the size of basketballs. Why? In the ocean, it's all about who wants to have you for dinner and to escape their mortal enemies, sperm whales.

Deborah Byrd

May 1, 2012

Three planets – Mars, Saturn, Venus – at nightfall throughout May 2012

Three planets light up the sky as soon as darkness falls on these May 2012 nights. This post tells you how to spot them.

Deborah Byrd

May 1, 2012

Al Gore at Hampshire College: Global warming is real

We sometimes see in the comments to EarthSky posts that Al Gore has "refuted" his claims about global warming. He has not.

Deborah Byrd

April 30, 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.