An outstanding PhD dissertation about important, original Venus science. Superbly written, rigorous, spans theory and observation. The public defense was also excellent.

This week I am showing several scenes from Interstellar (2014) to introduce relativity to UCLA students in the class EPS SCI 2 Science in the Movies.

Carl Sagan was born on this day. Reflections on his legacy: theconversation.com/carl-sagans-...

Today from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm, UCLA is hosting its largest science fair for K-12, with nearly 70 interactive science booths staffed by real scientists. Admission is free and open to the public. Map: exploringyouruniverse.ucla.edu/booth-map/

Requiring an insecure back door to faculty computers is one of the worst ideas at the University of California. www.science.org/content/arti...

I had a great time on the Search for Life panel sponsored by the UCLA Space Institute yesterday. I described four advantages of the search for technosignatures: cost, search volume, certainty of interpretation, and potential information content. arxiv.org/abs/1903.05544

We discussed planetary atmospheres and climate change this week in my Science in the Movies class, with an assist from The Day After Tomorrow (2004).

This week in Science in the Movies, I showed three scenes from Jon Amiel's The Core (2003) to illustrate planetary interior properties.

Dr. Fred Ramsdell (UCLA PhD 1987) is the ninth UCLA alum to receive a Nobel prize. Eight UCLA faculty have also earned the prize.

This unflattering opinion of Brussels is hard to reconcile with my monthlong stays there in 2024 and 2025. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

It felt like extortion when federal grants to UCLA were suspended. This NYT opinion piece reinforces the feeling. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

I had the privilege of presenting a brief report on UCLA SETI activities at the annual IAA SETI Committee meeting yesterday, with updates to the search volume values in our paper bit.ly/AJ23

The first week of my class Science in the Movies went well. Lots of fun demos and a few scenes from the movie Gravity to illustrate Newton's laws.

Science Magazine – NSF held captive www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagaz...

The Evpatoria radio telescope was used in occasional planetary radar studies, including the detection of asteroid Golevka (Gol-Ev-Ka), named after three radio telescopes. www.space.com/astronomy/dr...

Venus is a Solar System enigma. Although Venus is similar in size and distance from the Sun to Earth, it has evolved very differently from our planet. Our #Envision mission will aim to solve some of the puzzle by thoroughly studying our closest neighbour. www.esa.int/Science_Expl... 🔭

Basic astronomy lesson courtesy of the New York Times www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

It should never be easier to access a gun than a vaccine.

“They’re afraid that basic knowledge will expose their false claims.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/31/s...

This excellent piece describes the deceptive practices used by quacks to advance false claims. Beware! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

David Grinspoon confirms that his term appointment as NASA's Senior Scientist for Astrobiology Strategy will not be renewed and the position itself is being eliminated. He'll participate in Wednesday's Astrobiology Update (which is listed on our Calendar).

Los Angeles Times op-ed from colleague Steven Furlanetto enewspaper.latimes.com/infinity/art...

Good conversation about the position in which US universities find themselves: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/o...

The Belgians have created a superb walking/biking trail around Brussels. Highly recommended! environnement.brussels/citoyen/lenv...

Science Magazine finally recognizes it was wrong to publish arsenic paper. www.science.org/content/arti...

The Planetary Society will provide a NASA budget briefing on Thursday, June 12, at 12pm ET! We'll answer the top-rated scientific community questions, share everything we know, and give you our expert perspective on what's going on. Register for free here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

With sensible laws, 500 deaths of US kids/teens would be avoided each year. www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Excellent summary of the impacts of the President's budget request on astronomy and planetary science: aas.org/posts/news/2...

Our statement on the full FY2026 NASA budget proposal: www.planetary.org/press-releas...

As Carl Sagan said “Cutting off fundamental, curiosity-driven science is like eating the seed corn. We may have a little more to eat next winter but what will we plant so we and our children will have enough to get through the winters to come?” 🧪 www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Science in the U.S. is under brutal attack, and may not survive in anything like it’s current form. Here is one group trying to organize in our defense. 🧪 www.standupforscience.net/summer-fight...

It seems impossible to overstate how drastic the proposed cuts and other changes are. There is no vision, no purpose, no guiding light, just a desire to stop scientific understanding. www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

Unprecedented cuts to the National Science Foundation endanger research that improves economic growth, national security and your life theconversation.com/unprecedente...

Another textbook radar run with strong Venus echoes that will improve our knowledge of its spin precession rate and moment of inertia.

After a successful run on Thursday, we are conducting additional observations of Venus's spin state with the Goldstone Solar System Radar and the Green Bank Telescope.

UCLA SETI news: Tenth edition of the UCLA SETI course, funding limbo, 0.0007% of NASA's budget allocated to SETI, Science in the Movies, EnVision mission to Venus. eepurl.com/jbfQts

Goldstone Venus echoes for today's radar run are looking good.

We are about to start observations of Venus with the Goldstone Solar System Radar and the Green Bank Telescope to continue to improve our knowledge of the spin state.

This evening!