Pluto’s rich and unexpected surface features indicate the dwarf planet is still geologically active. This is one of the largest surprises of the New Horizons mission because it was assumed Keep reading
Month: March 2025
Pluto: Convection in Sputnik Planum
The icy plain of Sputnik Planum, located in Pluto’s heart-shaped Tombaugh Reggio, is criss-crossed with troughs that divide the plain into polygons. The current interpretation of these features is that Keep reading
Pluto: Cryovolcanoes
Since its flyby last summer, NASA’s New Horizons mission has had planetary scientists questioning all our assumptions about Pluto and its fellow cold, icy worlds on the outskirts of the Keep reading
Melted Polymers
What you see here, despite appearances, is not a soap film. On the contrary, this is a thin vertical film made up of melted polymers. Like a soap film, it Keep reading
Perching Physics
Compared to birds, manmade aircraft tend to be quite limited and inelegant. Fixed-wing aircraft, for example, require long, flat areas for take-off and landing, whereas birds of all sizes are Keep reading
Beach Cusps
This composite photo shows the arc of the sun over Lulworth Cove in England during the December solstice. The low sun angle reveals a distinctive circular diffraction pattern of waves Keep reading
The Best of FYFD 2015
2015 was a pretty good year. FYFD turned five, we had a great reader survey response, and Tumblr gave us a Tumblr Lifetime Achievement! Guess that means I’ve got more Keep reading