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Quantum Broom Sweeps Clean,
by Bernhard M. Haisch and Alfonso Rueda
For centuries, scientists had
little idea why linebackers, bowling balls, and fast-moving
locomotives have such a distaste for slowing down. Then, in
1994, a trio of physicists pinned the blame for inertia on the
quantum shenanigans in ``empty'' space. Could their theory also
explain large-scale structure in the universe? |
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Astronomy Learning and Student Thinking,
by Jeanne E. Bishop
Most children can't distinguish
constellations until age 7; up and down
start to make sense around age 9; adolescent sulkiness is often
the sign of a mind coming to grips with new ideas. A little
sensitivity to how children learn makes the process a lot more
fun -- for both kid and adult. |
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The Day After, by Seth Shostak
It could happen tomorrow, or in
a hundred years. Astronomers may discover we are not alone in
the universe. It is a prospect made even more likely by the
recent discoveries of bona fide planets around other stars,
and Mercury wants our readers to be ready. With sidebars
by Ben Bova; James M. Cordes, T. Joseph W. Lazio, and Carl Sagan;
and H. Paul Shuch. |
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Fourteen Billion Years Young, by Anne
L. Kinney
For something so hoary, the universe
has stayed remarkably spry. Billions of years don't seem to
have dampened galaxies' enthusiasm for changing their identity,
as astronomers have been finding as they gather photos of galaxies
from infancy on up. |
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The World of Radio Astronomy, Part
1, by Michael Dahlem and Elias Brinks
Imagine a world without radio
telescopes. There would be no quasars, no pulsars, no Big Bang,
no extragalactic jets. Theorists could go home at 5 o'clock
like ordinary people, instead of stay up all night in puzzlement.
A world with radio astronomy is much more fun, and two practitioners
aim to tell us why. |
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1995 Annual Fund Drive |
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Departments
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Editorial,
by George Musser |
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Letters to the Editor |
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World
Beat: Algeria, by Nidhal
Guessoum
Within a few years, there may
be no intellectuals, or intellectual life, left in Algeria.
Writers, artists, and scientists are being harassed, tortured,
and murdered by both the government and the Islamist militants.
When the repression ends, astronomers will need the help of
Western colleagues to rebuild. |
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Black Holes to Blackboards, by Jeffrey
F. Lockwood
Falling stars have always had
a magical aura, whether people think of them as omens or simply
as natural fireworks. So why squash that natural fascination
by making students memorize the difference between -ites
and -oids? |
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Echoes of the Past, by Katherine Bracher
The Crab Nebula has it all: roiling
gas, weird radiation, an explosive birth, a pulsar -- even some
historical controversy. What next? |
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Guest
Observer, by James C.
White II
Becoming a Moon lover. This month's
column also features the first Guest Observer field report:
the Oct. 24, 1995 solar eclipse, by the Amateur Astronomers'
Association of Mumbai, India. |
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Point-Counterpoint, by Martin Ratcliffe,
Ron Dantowitz
Should planetarium shows be live
or prerecorded? |
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SkyChart and SkyTalk, by Robert A.
Garfinkle |
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Book Review, by John Billingham
Are We Alone? by
P.C.W. Davies. |
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