CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Before he started the whole alien spaceship thing last year, the chairman of Harvard University’s astronomy department was known for public lectures on modesty. Personal modesty, which Avi Loeb said he learned growing up on a farm. And what Loeb calls “cosmic modesty” – the idea that it’s arrogant to assume we […]
space
Posted inNation / World
Asteroids are smacking Earth twice as often as before
WASHINGTON (AP) — Giant rocks from space are falling from the sky more than they used to, but don’t worry. For the past 290 million years, large asteroids have been crashing into Earth more than twice as often as they did in the previous 700 million years, according to a new study in Thursday’s journal […]
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Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Water is buried beneath Martian landscape, study says
NEW YORK (AP) — A huge lake of salty water appears to be buried deep in Mars, raising the possibility of finding life on the red planet. The discovery, based on observations by a European spacecraft, generated excitement from experts. Water is essential to life as we know it, and scientists have long sought to […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
Donald Trump announces plans for Pentagon to create 'Space Force'
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Vowing to reclaim U.S. leadership in space, President Donald Trump announced Monday he is directing the Pentagon to create a new “Space Force” as an independent service branch aimed at ensuring American supremacy in space. Trump envisioned a bright future for the U.S. space program, pledging to revive the country’s […]
Posted inNation / World, sj-web
SpaceX's big new rocket blasts off, puts Tesla sports car in space
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX’s big new rocket blasted off Tuesday on its first test flight, carrying a red electric sports car aiming for an endless road trip past Mars. The Falcon Heavy rose from the same launch pad used by NASA nearly 50 years ago to send men to the moon. With liftoff, […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
From Somalia to North Yarmouth, radio star settles into new American life
NORTH YARMOUTH — Abdi Nor Iftin’s journey to Maine started in a tiny shack in Mogadishu, Somalia, watching Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator.” It was there, packed in a room with about 30 other people, that he learned his first three English words: “I’ll be back.” At an event at SPACE gallery in Portland on […]
Posted inFranklin
RSU 9 to explore options to move Central Office
FARMINGTON — A Central Office Committee has been established in Regional School Unit 9 to look at all options pertaining to moving the office to make room for special education students at Mt. Blue Middle School. The Central Office, which includes the superintendent’s office, is in the basement of the middle school. It was discussed […]
Posted insj-web
Cosmic first: European spacecraft lands on comet
DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) — Landing with a bounce after traveling 4 billion miles, a European spacecraft made history Wednesday by successfully reaching the icy, dusty surface of a speeding comet — a cosmic first designed to answer big questions about the universe. The landing by the washing machine-sized craft after a decade-long journey required immense […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn, Maine
Scattering CJ: Changing lives around the world
Post by Scattering CJ. Frattini, a former U.S. Marine, New York building contractor and TV personality, immediately texted his teenage son at school to say, “I love you.” They’d had their own terrible argument that morning — among the worst Frattini could remember — and he vowed never again to let anger come between him and […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Portland restaurant space becoming rare, expensive
PORTLAND (AP) — Insiders in Portland’s burgeoning restaurant industry are running into a new problem — a lack of affordable space for new eateries. The city’s food reputation was built on the backs of young chefs opening their own places. But as space shrinks and rents rise, some worry that soon the only people able […]