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Melissa Lafsky

Discoblog

Weekly Weird Science Roundup: Recycle When You Wipe!

popart astronaut

For healthy and happy space travelers, food scientists must make meals compact, nutritious and long-lasting.

How Do Scientists Build the Best Diet for Astronauts?

Rio de Janeiro, December 8, 2009. Singer Taylor Swift during her show at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - shutterstock 758842915

The beginning of April always generates a slew of research papers from scientists who should know better. Here is this year's round up.

The Science of Taylor Swift and Other Improbable Stories 

The Ingenuity helicopter is now being lowered — very carefully! — to the Martian surface beneath the belly of the Perseverance rover. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Caltech/Ken Kremer)

The Ingenuity helicopter is being lowered — very carefully! — to the Martian surface beneath the belly of the Perseverance rover. (Credit: NASA/JPL/Caltech/Ken Kremer)

Even if the Ingenuity helicopter fails, it is already a success — an engineering resource for a grand future of flight on other worlds. 

The Inside Story Behind the Historic First Flight on Mars

pi day cast iron skillet - shutterstock

March 14 is Pi Day — and it's much more than an excuse to eat pie. Here's the significance of the number 3.14 and how it originated.

Pi Day: The History of the Math-Centric Holiday and the Special Number It Celebrates

Twin sisters - shutterstock

It depends on how deep you look into the DNA, according to new research.

Identical Twins: Just How Genetically Alike Are They?

This annotated image shows how engineers used binary code to hide the message "Dare mighty things" — as well as JPL's GPS coordinates — in the Perseverance rover's parachute (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Perseverance rover parachute

Engineers hid the phrase “Dare Mighty Things'' on the parachute of NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover. It isn’t the first time they’ve snuck a fun surprise or a sentimental object onto a spacecraft, either. 

Weekly Weird Science Roundup: Recycle When You Wipe!

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