Kate Rauner's Blog

Wherever Humans Go, We Take Hitchhikers #biology #space #evolution

A previously unknown species of bacteria was collected on China’s Tiangong space station and returned to Earth in 2023. You read that right – an aerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacteria was living on a hardware surface inside the space station. This isn’t the first time, won’t be the last, and strikes me as inevitable. Astronauts carry […]

Surprise In Your Brain That’s Obvious, When You Think About It #braincells

The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from radio waves to gamma rays – with heat, visible light, and sunburn-causing UV somewhere in the middle where you detect them with your eyes and skin. You know that, at least in general terms, right? And maybe know that UV vision, outside the range of human eyesight, is common in […]

Reverse Evolution? No, no, no… #BasicBiology #science

Wild Galapagos tomatoes are in the news. I cringe at the way media outlets are phrasing this: “Tomatoes growing on the Galápagos Islands appear to be going back in time by producing the same toxins their ancestors did millions of years ago.” Smithsonian No. Toxins, yes; time travel, no. Just, no. An established trope casts […]

Smashwords Summer eBook Sale – Quite an Event for Readers #SWSale2025 #books #amreading

Whatever genre you read, you’ll find great books and great deals in July. Whether you’re enjoying the Northern Hemisphere summer heat or bundling up in the Southern Hemisphere’s winter, this annual sale is a great time to find your next favorite book! Including my book, Rhyme and Reason Poetry Inspired by Science, 50% off all […]

Start a Science Fiction Series at 40% off #sciencefiction #reading #scifibook

What does everyone need? A good book! For the first week of July, price reductions for the first book in each of two of my science fiction series. Snap these up now while the sale lasts. Journey into a near future filled with science and speculative possibilities on Saturn’s frozen moon, Titan. Click here now. … … Continue reading →

Where did your favorite element come from? Astronomers Periodic Table #atoms #elements #astronomy

The Big Bang generated hydrogen and helium. So, what created all the other elements? You and I, and every other bit of matter: We are made of star stuff. Everything started with hydrogen and helium in the Big Bang, but then what? Exploding stars, dying stars, neutron stars… a lot can happen in 14 billion […]

Learn more, understand more #history

Here’s a quick share of an article from the Smithsonian. You may have heard of Otzi, the mummified body found frozen in the Alps. He and his 5,000-year-old gear are preserved amazingly well. This latest research examines how that preservation came about: A fine example of how science works. Science can now date organic materials […]

The Future is Here – first de-extincted animals – now what? #extinction #environment

Ten thousand years ago, North America’s last Dire Wolf died, perhaps because the mega-fauna they hunted also died out as the Ice Age ended. But they left fossils and DNA behind. Can modern genetics re-create the lost species? Plenty of dire wolf remains have been discovered across the Americas, however, and that presented an opportunity […]

Lunar Eclipses and Lightning Strikes at Sea – I’d Never Have Guessed #Weather #pollution #BloodMoon

Lightning often strikes twice in the same place, because that’s a good place to complete the path from sky to surface. What’s one of the things that makes for a good path to ground? Maybe this is obvious to some, but it surprised me. For decades, ship emissions steadily rose as increasing global trade drove […]

Lead Poisoning and Enlightened Self-Interest #health #mentalhealth #leadpoisoning

Since the 2nd century BC, people have realized that lead is toxic. An engineer for Julius Caesar wrote, “water is much more wholesome from earthenware pipes than from lead pipes.” Wikipedia Those old Romans even used lead acetate, which tastes sweet, to improve their wine. Whether lead poisoning truly contributed to the fall of the […]