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!

Great piece about the evolution of intelligence on Earth and habitable planets theconversation.com/evolving-int...

Great to see the PhD work of UCLA graduate student Megan Li featured in this month's Planetary Report www.planetary.org/articles/are... @planetarysociety.bsky.social

The Audience Choice Award of the 2025 UCLA Grad Slam went to Megan Li for “The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.” Congratulations, Megan!

Planet Definitions xkcd.com/3063

Join me on March 25, 2025 to hear the latest from @UCLA SETI 📡👽

The UCLA Science in the Movies course culminates with Contact (1997) to introduce the search for life in the universe.

Not a great time to be applying to grad school www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/u...

Congratulations to UCLA graduate student Megan Li, who gave an engaging 3-minute-talk about SETI research and qualified for the Grad Slam finals! grad.ucla.edu/life-at-ucla...

Joe Burns (1941-2025) was an outstanding professor and human being. news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...

Students taking "Science in the Movies" are now watching Interstellar (2014) as an introduction to our lectures on relativity, interstellar travel, and UFOs/UAPs/critical thinking.

Terry Tao gave a wonderful talk about "Machine Assisted Mathematics" at UCLA this evening.

UCLA students taking the "Science in the Movies" course are now watching Deep Impact (1998) in preparation for our lectures on the impact hazard.

Students in the "Science in the Movies" course are watching San Andreas (2015) in preparation for our earthquake lectures.

If you need guidance to submit a NASA grant proposal, you are out of luck. The link to the NASA Grant and Cooperative Agreement Manual (GCAM): NASA’s Grant Manual for Proposers and Recipients is disabled.