I have a new story published over at New Scientist:

'Talk of mining asteroids was once the preserve of corduroy-flare-clad, optimists of the Apollo era. Now the idea is making a comeback thanks to enterprising tech billionaires and a nascent commercial space industry. ...'

Read the full story here.

I have a new feature story published in New Scientist:

'ALMOST a century ago, something strange split the sky across North America. On 9 February 1913, eyewitnesses reported dozens of burning fireballs cutting a swathe across the night sky. It was a display unlike any other meteor shower. Instead of shooting stars raining down in all directions, a train of bright fireballs moved slowly and deliberately over much of the continent.

The first sighting was in Saskatchewan, Canada. Burning red-hot from its passage through the atmosphere and trailing streaks of vapour, the meteor train moved south-east, passing just a few kilometres north of New York and then out over the Atlantic Ocean. Final sightings of the spectacle came from Bermuda and a steamer ship near the equator.

The distance between the first and last observing points was 9200 kilometres. To be seen over such an expanse, the meteors must have been in orbit around our planet. The conclusion was compelling: what people had seen that night was probably the break up of a small, previously undiscovered moon of Earth. ...'

The full story is here. 

I have a new story published over at ESA:
'A region on Saturn's moon Titan has been found to be similar to the Etosha Pan in Namibia, Africa. Both are ephemeral lakes - large, shallow depressions that sometimes fill with liquid. ...'

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I have a new story published over at New Scientist:

'Following the launch of India's longest range, nuclear-capable missile, has the world become more dangerous - or pretty much just stayed the same as before? ...'

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I have a new story published in The Guardian:

'Launching equipment into space is an expensive business: it costs $10,000 (£6,300) to lift every 0.45kg (1lb) of stuff into orbit. Making things smaller and lighter is, therefore, a natural route to reducing the cost of launching a spacecraft. It is no surprise then that the principles of nanotechnology - and the potential to reduce the mass and size of spacecraft and payloads - are focusing the minds of space engineers. ...'

Read the full story here.