Coburn Palmer

President Trump may not want to gut NASA, but he’s not going out of his way to help the space agency get to Mars, help Elon Musk do the same, or develop the cislunar economy in orbit above Earth. Trump’s proposed budget for NASA earmarks some $19.5 billion for the space agency, but doesn’t add […]

April, the Giraffe, may be an internet sensation, but that hasn’t stopped Congress from quietly reviving hunting practices many animal lovers consider to be barbaric. This week, Congress overturned a Fish and Wildlife Service rule that stopped Alaskan hunters from killing hibernating bears and wolves in their dens, shooting the animals from helicopters, and using […]

A bright orange bus with an anti-trans message emblazoned on the side is touring the East Coast to promote the open discussion of gender and the free speech rights of the religious community. The Free Speech Bus toured New York this week with more stops planned along the East Coast later this month; it’s emblazoned […]

Vowing to continue the fight against Donald Trump, San Francisco supervisors joined community resistance leaders Tuesday to call for border wall contractors to be banned from doing business with the city. Standing on the steps of a company that submitted a bid for Trump’s border wall, San Francisco city supervisors introduced legislation Tuesday prohibiting business […]

Trump’s new budget proposal would axe NASA’s Europa lander mission, end the space agency’s Asteroid Redirect Mission, and complicate efforts to develop technology to shoot down dangerous space rocks. The president’s proposal for NASA earmarks $19.1 billion for the space agency but eliminates some programs that have been under development for years, NASA’s acting administrator […]

While Seoul and the United States conduct military exercises that simulate war with North Korea here on the ground, space experts are warning the rogue nation could pose a threat to American interests in orbit. The isolationist country announced plans to plant the North Korean flag on the moon last year and their entrance into […]

One Texas lawmaker wants to fine men for masturbating, put a mandatory waiting period on Viagra purchases, and require a medically unnecessary rectal exam before a vasectomy. The satirical bill, dubbed the “Man’s Right To Know,” was proposed by Texas state Rep. Jessica Farrar as a way to highlight anti-abortion laws created by men for […]

It’s official; California cars don’t need brake pedals or steering wheels to be street legal because self-driving robocars are about to hit the road. The California DMV proposed dropping the human driver requirement for self-driving cars Friday and even gave autonomous car companies the option to remove steering wheels and brake pedals from their vehicles. […]

What was once a competition between two superpowers has turned into a worldwide contest as countries around the world turn out to enter the new space race and take advantage of the developing cislunar economy. From the UAE to Nigeria, more countries around the world are investing in national space programs, developing the technology to […]

NASA scientists have discovered a new method to detect dangerous incoming solar storms tens of minutes before they strike the planet giving humanity extra time to seek protection. Our sun periodically erupts in dangerous storms, which take the form of solar flares and eruptions of plasma known as coronal mass ejections. These powerful storms send […]

Using technology being designed today, it’s possible to build a space train that never stops its continuous journey between the Earth and the moon, allowing the realistic establishment of lunar colonies within a few short years. Using the inflatable habitat technology currently being tested by Bigelow Aerospace and the SpaceX Dragon capsule ship design, it’s […]

California has suffered through a series of storms this winter that have flooded the northern part of the state and caused $600 million in damages, and the accumulated rainfall could bring a string of earthquakes. British geophysicist Gillian Foulger published a study exploring the relationship between heavy rainfall and earthquakes that suggests California could be […]

A number of commercial companies are working to build a new economy in orbit above Earth, but a new survey shows almost no one wants to live space. Researchers at San Jose State University and the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation found that only 6 percent of self-identified space enthusiasts were willing to live […]

This week, NASA announced the discovery of a new system of alien worlds that might support life, and space fans around the world are freaking out about what this might mean for the future of interstellar travel. Wednesday, NASA announced it had discovered seven alien planets orbiting the nearby TRAPPIST-1 star, and three of them […]

An open letter to Donald Trump circulating on the Change.org website appears to thank the real estate billionaire for becoming president during this troubled time in America, but all is not as it appears. The writer praises Trump for his actions as president because his activities have motivated millions of Americans to set aside their […]

It finally stopped raining in Northern California this week, but that doesn’t mean state residents were safe from rising flood water threatening their homes and businesses. Residents in the northern part of the state were ordered to evacuate by the thousands as dam officials released a massive flood of water downstream to prevent fatal collapses. […]

Deportee and refugee camps could start popping up along the border thanks to Donald Trump’s new immigration policies that target anyone living in the country illegally. Any immigrant who crossed the border illegally, and is charged with or suspected of a crime, could be deported to Mexico, regardless of their country of origin, while their […]

During Donald Trump’s first week in the White House, his advisors coined the term “alternate facts” and the administration seems to be running with the idea that it’s okay to spout fake news. First, Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway described the fake terror attack Bowling Green massacre on national TV then the President cited a nonexistent […]

Artificially intelligent machines are set to smash the job market in the next 15 years and take tens of millions of jobs currently being done by humans and Bill Gates thinks those robots should pay taxes. The tax on job-stealing robots would be levied against the businesses that employ them and used to retrain humans […]

Ambitious plans for Mars are nothing new, but when the United Arab Emirates announced its intention to build a Mars city they weren’t joking and a 2020 probe to the red planet will prove it. Mars Hope, the Arab World’s first mission to the red planet, is set to launch from Japan in 2020 on […]

A geneticist from Harvard University plans to resurrect the extinct woolly mammoth in two years by combing key genetic traits of the extinct creature with DNA from an endangered Asian elephant. Rogue geneticist George Church announced his plan to create a hybrid woolly mammoth embryo this week using advanced technology that doesn’t exist quite yet, […]

Congress has set NASA the goal of a manned Mars mission, but the space agency will need to first practice with a trip to the moon and that costs money the government doesn’t want to pay. During the height of the space race with the former Soviet Union, the United States spent about 4 percent […]

President Donald Trump has a historically low approval rating just weeks after moving into the White House, but that doesn’t mean Congress has begun the impeachment process no matter how many people wish it were so. A petition to impeach Trump with more than 850,000 signatures on it was delivered to Congress this week and […]

The state of California and President Trump have been engaged in a war of words since the January inauguration, but the feud was put on hold this week when the Golden State requested emergency aid. California has been soaked in a series of winter storms that have caused serious flooding across the state and forced […]

Astronomers have been theorizing the existence of a mysterious ninth planet in our solar system since last January, but they haven’t been able to spot it yet and now they’re asking for help. A citizen scientist project called “Backyard Worlds: Planet 9” asks armchair astronomers to browse through images from NASA’s Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer […]

The city-states of the United Arab Emirates have gone from small fishing villages to lead the world in futuristic city designs, and their latest plans promise to push the envelope of ultramodern thinking even further. Continuing their quest to become a scheduled leader in innovation, UAE leaders this week announced plans to become the world’s […]

The biggest winter storm of the season is expected to hit California this week as Trump declared emergencies in 34 counties across the state and officials work against the clock to the repair the nation’s tallest dam. California has suffered through a series of deadly winter storms that have triggered massive flooding and mudslides, causing […]

Scientists, startup companies, and environmentalists are all searching for ways to survive the rising sea levels associated with climate change and one group wants to build private floating islands as a refuge against the coming tide. The Seasteading Institute, a California nonprofit, plans to build a city of free floating islands in a South Pacific […]

This weekend, armchair astronomers are being treated to a visual treat with a lunar eclipse, a full moon, and green comet fly-by, but much of the country won’t see them because of the winter storms. That’s where a crowdfunded space startup called MoonWatcher comes in. In 2018, the company plans to launch the world’s first […]

Bay Area nudists plan to march naked through the city streets this weekend and rally in front of City Hall to protest the San Francisco nudity ban that was first enacted four years ago. The second annual Nude Valentine’s Day Parade, organized by self-proclaimed body freedom activist Gypsy Taub, is intended to celebrate love and […]

Just last year California was suffering through a historic four-year drought, but now some scientists are warning residents the state could be in store for a superflood that could turn the Central Valley into a lake. With a series of storms flooding Northern California towns, scientists are starting to worry a historic superflood that last […]

Instead of spending years earning an advanced degree or spending millions to buy a seat on a rocket, armchair astronauts will soon have the chance to win a ride into space by downloading a smartphone app. The Cohu Experience, a crowd-funded Finnish startup devoted to advertising the growing commercial space economy, plans to launch the […]

Private astronauts may be flying commercial spaceships around the moon in just a few years thanks to a renewed public-private partnership in space championed by Donald Trump. Memos from Donald Trump’s NASA transition team have proposed an internal competition to return American astronauts to the moon, transition to private space stations, and emphasize commercial development, […]

Four previously unknown asteroids have whizzed by Earth this year passing between our planet and the moon and coming within a cosmic hairsbreadth of our world shortly before astronomers spotted them for the first time. None of these space rocks were a particular threat to our planet and it’s not time to buy asteroid insurance […]

Problems with SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket engines could keep the private space fleet from ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station and threaten its government contracts. A new report from the Government Accountability Office shows that turbine blades used to pump fuel into Falcon 9 rocket engines have a tendency to crack under stress, according […]

A group of super rich Americans have been preparing for the collapse of civilization by building underground bunkers and reinforced safe rooms, and one Trump adviser is getting ready to flee the country. Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley billionaire turned Donald Trump adviser, managed to become a citizen of New Zealand in 2011 even though he’s […]

Star Trek fans have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Discovery, the next chapter in the popular science fiction series, but a series of delays has hampered enthusiasm and led to increased speculation across the web. After news broke that filming began on the new series this week, Star Trek fans flooded the internet with […]

NASA plans to abandon the International Space Station sometime in the 2020’s and a startup company wants to use the pieces to build humanity’s first commercial outpost in orbit. Axiom Space LLC plans to attach a module to the ISS in 2020 and use that as a jumping off point to construct the world’s first […]

Donald Trump has been president of the United States for a week and already a third of Californians hate him so much they want to leave the country and take the rest of the state with them. California authorities agreed to let Calexit backers start collecting the more than 500,000 signatures needed to put a […]

Lunar caves hollowed out by ancient lava flows might offer humanity the perfect place to establish the first base on the moon, according to researchers from Purdue University. Geophysicist Dave Blair and his university colleagues theorize that there could be huge caverns under the moon’s surface hollowed out by rivers of molten rock that may […]

Stephen Hawking isn’t the only person afraid that killer robots might one day rise up and wipe out humanity. Countries around the world continue to invest in Terminator-style military robots to give them an advantage on the battlefield and that’s making the United Nations increasingly nervous. In 2017, the world body is expected to consider […]

The huge planet-killing space rock that collides with Earth and ends life as we know it could wind up to be a comet instead of an asteroid because they’re bigger, faster, and appear with little warning. At the annual American Geophysical Union, NASA researcher Joseph Nuth warned the world that humanity is unprepared to protect […]

From tiny pieces of metal to the lifeless bodies of dead satellites, there is so much space trash floating around in orbit that it’s starting to become an issue for spacecraft, astronauts, and the International Space Station. NASA estimates there are more than half a million pieces of space trash floating above the Earth and […]

Humans are going to Mars and when the first settlement on the red planet is established, it will need leaders and a system of government to keep everything in working order. Human settlers might import American-style capitalism to Mars, establish a meritocracy on the red planet, or invent some entirely new form of government that […]

Nothing in Christianity specifically prohibits space exploration or the colonization of other planets, but if what the Bible says is true, humans may not have time to reach Mars. The Bible refers to the end of the world in Revelations where it specifically describes the destruction of Earth, but humanity would need to be trapped […]

Christmas shoppers looking to buy the perfect gift for the space enthusiast in their lives might consider getting an early start on their 2026 holiday shopping and plan for a ride to the moon. By then, Moon Express founder Naveen Jain plans to be selling lunar flights for $10,000 per seat, a feat made possible […]

The fight for higher wages is nothing new and neither is the corporate desire to increase profits by cutting costs, including labor, but the Fight for $15 movement has thrown the issue of income equality into sharp focus. This week, fast-food workers across the nation rallied for higher wages as part of the Fight for […]

Elon Musk wants to go to Mars and there are several thousand armchair astronomers ready to follow him, but there are several dangers facing an off-world human colony that must be solved first. Aside from the obvious lack of oxygen and freezing temperatures, any human outpost on Mars would need to protect settlers from falling […]

President-elect Donald Trump has named a former NASA employee, House Science Committee staff member, and U.S. Air Force member to head the space agency’s transition team. Christopher Shank, who has served important roles at NASA, will lead the transition team for America’s space agency and is expected to help increase collaboration with the military. The […]

A German-based science group plans to land the first privately funded lunar rover on the surface of the moon to visit the historic Apollo 17 landing site and video the NASA preservation heritage area. Using an Audi-designed lunar rover, the Berlin-based PTScientists group plans to take video of the buggy NASA left behind 45 years […]