iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 16/02/2026

If the AI bubble does pop, I wonder if energy infrastructure will be the overbuilt asset this time around. It was dark fiber in the 2000 internet bubble and tracks in the railway bubble a century ago.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 16/02/2026

I watched that new Brad Pitt versus Tom Cruise AI video and it's scary good. Obviously, there are all kinds of problems and you can still tell, but for how much longer? What will authors do when AI companies offer them serious money for rights to convert books into AI movies?

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 10/09/2025

Just a quick meeting with my editor to see why I've been neglecting to refill my bird-feeder.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 27/08/2025

I just came back to work after being away from my desk for almost a week. I'm catching up to all my newsfeeds in my RSS reader and it's overwhelming, of course. Except for NASA feeds. They are... sparse. So little research news coming out of NASA.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 26/06/2025

I wonder if I should answer the doorbell? Pretty skinny bear, hopefully he'll fatten up now that berry season is here.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 05/06/2025

You were awesome, video is coming next week...

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 24/04/2025

Another clear night of using the Seestar S50. I set this up in Plan mode, picked 4 targets and went to bed. The pictures were waiting for me on the telescope when I got up. Neat.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 23/04/2025

The enshittification of podcasting is in full effect. I recently changed my podcast hosting provider and it "broke" the feed on both Apple and Spotify. The new feed works fine, and new episodes download on all podcatching apps. But not those two, because... walled gardens.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 22/04/2025

Finally figuring out how to operate my new Seestar S50. I did a 20 minute exposure of M51 before the clouds rolled in. Nice, it's time for a whole new hobby rabbithole.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 14/03/2025

We're doing a 4 part deep dive into all the science approved with JWST Cycle 4. Here's Part 1 www.universetoday.com/articles/sci...

universetoday.com

JWST Cycle 4 Spotlight, Part 1: Exoplanets and Habitability - Universe Today

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 14/03/2025

Firefly released their image of the lunar eclipse from last night, but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. They say that you can see the Sun peeking out from the edge of the Earth reflected in the Solar panel, but the scale looks way off. Need a red glow version. www.flickr.com/photos/firef...

flickr.com

Blue Ghost Mission 1 - First Solar Eclipse Image

Credit/copyright: Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost caught her first look at the solar eclipse from the Moon around 12:30 am CDT on March 14 from our landing site in Mare Crisium. Notice the glowing ring ...

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 14/03/2025

I don't think I'll be livestreaming the eclipse tonight.

A sky filled with clouds, obscuring the Moon. No lunar eclipse for me.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 07/03/2025

Universe Today is now ad-free. After years of declining ad revenue, caused by AI slop and search engines diverting traffic, we finally cut off all advertising. No ads on the website, email newsletter or podcasts. And our space journalism is better than ever. How? Patrons. www.universetoday.com

universetoday.com

Home - Universe Today

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 11/12/2024

NASA's Ingenuity helicopter completed its 72nd and final flight on Mars on Jan. 18, 2024. It crashed, broke its rotors and would never fly again. Engineers at NASA have been studying the flights and terrain and think they know the series of events that led to the crash.

jpl.nasa.gov

NASA Performs First Aircraft Accident Investigation on Another World

The review takes a close look the final flight of the agency’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which was the first aircraft to fly on another world.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 05/12/2024

The Pizzable Zone is the region around a star where the temperature is ideal for cooking a pizza (450-500°C). Inner boundary: too hot, pizza burns instantly. Outer boundary: too cool, pizza won't cook properly.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 05/12/2024

Exoplanets have been found orbiting two stars. While giant exo-jupiters won't be habitable, their moons could be. A new paper looked into the evolution of circumbinary planet moons and found 30-40% of surviving moons migrate into habitable zones. arxiv.org/abs/2412.02847

An artist's illustration of a planet in orbit around two stars. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 03/12/2024

An explanation for the Fermi Paradox is the "Sustainability Solution." We don't see advanced civilizations because exponential growth and expansion are unsustainable. Any advanced civilization would be indistinguishable from nature. Which makes them hard to find. arxiv.org/abs/2411.08057

Old-growth Amazon tree canopy in Tapajós National Forest, Brazil. A new NASA study shows that the living trees in the undisturbed Amazon forest draw more carbon dioxide from the air than the forest's dead trees emit. NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 03/12/2024

A new paper suggests that Venus has been a hellscape for its entire history. No oceans, ever. This result comes from the estimated ratio of water vapor in volcanic outgassing. On Earth, eruptions are mostly steam from interior water, but on Venus, they're 6% at most. www.cam.ac.uk/research/new...

View of surface of Venus Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory-Caltech

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 03/12/2024

The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa has confirmed the existence of the gravitational wave background of the Universe, monitoring dozens of millisecond pulsars for just 4.5 years. These are caused by merging supermassive black holes distorting spacetime, sending ripples across the Universe.

sarao.ac.za

South Africa’s MeerKAT tracks cosmic ripples in spacetime - South African Radio Astronomy Observatory - SARAO

Diligent observing with the MeerKAT radio telescope in the Northern Karoo, of a network of rapidly spinning neutron stars over the last five years, has unveiled additional evidence for the presence of...

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 02/12/2024

Although white dwarfs aren't actively fusing any more, they're still hot and could support life. A new paper calculates white dwarfs could provide a habitable zone for 7 billion years. They're small and dim; easier to study planets for biosignatures. 1 hour of JWST time. arxiv.org/abs/2411.18934

In this illustration, an asteroid (bottom left) breaks apart under the powerful gravity of LSPM J0207+3331, the oldest, coldest white dwarf known to be surrounded by a ring of dusty debris. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Wiessinger

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 02/12/2024

Satellites tracking vegetation in Antarctica have watched as hardy mosses and lichens increase their foothold on the icy continent. Using observations from Landsat 5 through 8, researchers calculated that the area of vegetated land in 1985 was 0.86 km². By 2021, this had grown to 11.95 km².

earthobservatory.nasa.gov

Satellites Reveal a Greener Antarctic Peninsula

Scientists are beginning to unravel what comes next, after the ice moves out and vegetation moves in.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 30/11/2024

Okay, I got @universetoday.com automatically posting our new stories. And I was even able to set a custom domain so it's officially verified. There won't be anything but space stories here, but if that's your thing, we've got you covered.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 30/11/2024

I'm watching people try to speedrun their way to the Clearsky top 5 blocked in 24 hours using AI trollbots. How is this fun for them? I'm suitably impressed with the user response, though, the blocking and blocklisting is very comprehensive. There's a virology paper here somewhere. clearsky.app

clearsky.app

ClearSky

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 29/11/2024

It's Friday, that means Space Bites: - what's inside Uranus and Neptune? - Titan Dragonfly gets its ride to Titan - China's new spaceplane - My favorite JWST image of 2024 - Explore the ice under Europa And more... Watch our videos ad-free on Patreon (they're public, it's free)

patreon.com

What's Inside Uranus // Dragonfly Launch Secured // Best JWST Image of 2024 | Fraser Cain

Get more from Fraser Cain on Patreon

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 28/11/2024

New paper examines 11 ways to make concrete/cement on Mars, from lime concrete to more exotic materials that might only be possible on a cold, nearly airless, low gravity world. They found sulfur concrete the most promising: strength, quick hardening, no water. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

AstroCrete (a) 3D printed specimen (b) compressive test. Research by Omid Karimzade Soureshjani, Ali Massumi, Gholamreza Nouri

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 28/11/2024

Got a monster next-generation space telescope (LIFE/HWO), but you don't know where to point it to find other Earths? Researchers have narrowed the list to the best 1000 stars and wide binaries, the 100 stars with the best potential, and the ten best-known planetary systems nearby.

arxiv.org

Database of Candidate Targets for the LIFE Mission

We present the database of potential targets for the Large Interferometer For Exoplanets (LIFE), a space-based mid-infrared nulling interferometer mission proposed for the Voyage 2050 science program ...

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 27/11/2024

Euclid is expected to turn up 170,000 strong gravitational lenses during its mission. But how to identify them? Researchers tested several machine learning algorithms and even the best only got a 1:9 false positive rate. It'll be up to human volunteers to manually confirm them, one by one.

arxiv.org

Euclid: Searches for strong gravitational lenses using convolutional neural nets in Early Release Observations of the Perseus field

The Euclid Wide Survey (EWS) is predicted to find approximately 170 000 galaxy-galaxy strong lenses from its lifetime observation of 14 000 deg^2 of the sky. Detecting this many lenses by visual inspe...

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 27/11/2024

I think @hankgreen.bsky.social nailed it. I'm not especially political, but I really get exhausted by trolls, snarky comments and disrespect. My mute and block buttons are getting used to full effect.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 26/11/2024

Researchers just completed a simulation of the Universe using the most powerful supercomputer on Earth. It calculated the evolution of the Universe from its earliest times forward, including matter, energy, dark matter, etc. It can perform more than a quintillion calculations per second.

ornl.gov

Record-breaking run on Frontier sets new bar for simulating the universe in the exascale era | ORNL

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 26/11/2024

Venus is almost a twin of Earth, yet it has a crushing, boiling atmosphere at the surface and shows little active volcanism. Since Venus is so brutal, a researcher has proposed sending an orbiter/balloon/lander that could work together to track seismic signals rumbling under the planet's surface.

eos.org

Three Ways to Track Venusquakes, from Balloons to Satellites - Eos

The planet’s harsh conditions make studying seismicity challenging, but it is likely possible.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 26/11/2024

This should keep you warm and toasty during the holidays. Feel the holiday spirit of four RS-25 engines and two solid rocket boosters delivering 39 Meganewtons of thrust, capable of sending even the heaviest fireplace to the Moon. Thanks to @floradine-s.bsky.social for the tip.

youtube.com

NASA Rocket Engine Fireplace - 8 Hours in 4K

YouTube video by NASA

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 26/11/2024

This is a very nice picture of the Sun, but it's a mosaic of 25 images taken by ESA's Solar Orbiter when it was half the Earth-Sun distance. Scientists released a zoomable version that gives you insane resolution of the solar surface. Click this link for the insane zooms: codepen.io/Kimtaro88/em...

mpg.de

The solar fire up close

Newly analyzed data from ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft offer the first high-resolution view of the entire solar disk

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 26/11/2024

There's no place on Earth not colonized by bacteria. When researchers examined samples of Ryugu from the Hayabusa2, they realized the little devils had found a new home. The samples were delivered in a hermetically sealed chamber, opened in airtight containers in nitrogen gas. Life found a way.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Rapid colonization of a space‐returned Ryugu sample by terrestrial microorganisms

The presence of microorganisms within meteorites has been used as evidence for extraterrestrial life, however, the potential for terrestrial contamination makes their interpretation highly controvers....

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 25/11/2024

This JWST image of the Sombrero Galaxy is fantastic. From the clumpy clouds of gas and dust in the outer ring to the bright central core containing an actively feeding supermassive black hole. And peppered with thousands of globular clusters. No notes, chef's kiss. Carry on Universe.

science.nasa.gov

Hats Off to NASA’s Webb: Sombrero Galaxy Dazzles in New Image - NASA Science

In a new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, a galaxy named for its resemblance to a broad-brimmed Mexican hat appears more like an archery target. In Webb’s mid-infrared view of the Sombrer...

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 24/11/2024

I can see a lot of people subscribing to space photo feeds, but most seem to contain uncredited and AI photos. Spam. Here's the one I'd recommend above all others. @hourlycosmos.bsky.social It's run by @kevinmgill.bsky.social. He knows what's real, what's fake and how to give proper credit.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 24/11/2024

Judy Schmidt @geckzilla.bsky.social is one of the best image processors out there, watching the Hubble/JWST data flow for hidden gems.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 24/11/2024

The upcoming telescope I'm most excited about is now actually taking pictures. I can't wait to see them.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 23/11/2024

My worst fears have come true. Path of Exile 2 looks really good and will likely devour my time. It was nice knowing you all, but after Dec. 6th, I'll be... busy. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpIb...

youtube.com

Path of Exile 2: Endgame Content Reveal

YouTube video by Path of Exile

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 22/11/2024

It's time for NASA's Moon phase simulation for 2025! The moon seems to get bigger and smaller because it is on an elliptical orbit around the Earth. When it's close and full, that's a supermoon, making it about 30% brighter. That wobbling is called libration, and it lets us see more of its surface.

youtube.com

2025 Moon Phases - Northern Hemisphere - 4K

YouTube video by NASA Goddard

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 22/11/2024

This looks straight out of a sci-fi movie. But it's real. These are real images of Jupiter and its moons captured by Cassini. @kevinmgill.bsky.social is a wizard.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 22/11/2024

This is exciting. JWST has been operating long enough that we can see timelapse animations of planets changing from year to year.

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 21/11/2024

Creative people. Talk to your fans. When people join my Patreon, I ask them to do a personal interview. I genuinely want to hear their feedback, but it's also good for the soul. We usually just see the trolls and not the silent majority that appreciates our work. It puts a smile on my face all day

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 21/11/2024

Our power is back, and our battery backup is back to 100%. Time for the next surprise bomb cyclone to tear up half of Vancouver Island.

media.tenor.com

a close up of a man 's face with a hand visible

ALT: a close up of a man 's face with a hand visible

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 20/11/2024

Here are the power outages on Vancouver Island. Essentially the entire island. I suspect we'll be out of power for quite a while, even beyond the capability of my backup battery. Those numbers are collections of power outages, not homes. It's about 150,000 homes right now. #bombcyclone

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Fraser Cain @fcain.universetoday.com · 20/11/2024

I appreciate that there's a TweetDeck cone with deck.blue. Now, does anyone know of a TwitterFall clone? I need to gaze directly into the river of messages.

deck.blue

Get the most out of Bluesky with a multi-column layout

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