iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Do we know what causes the uneven expansion of the CME? Maybe variations in density of the solar wind and magnetic field strength that the CME encounters?

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Space weather impacts us all, but we know surprisingly little about how CMEs propagate through the Solar System. In my new article I describe how a fleet of 17 spacecraft tracked a CME from multiple vantage points, finding it to be unexpectedly, dangerously, asymmetric. www.space.com/astronomy/su...

How a huge fleet of 17 spacecraft discovered something surprising about solar eruptions

Taking measurements of the same CME from different vantage points in the solar system revealed the true extent of a solar eruption.

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Reposted by Keith Cooper

Paul Byrne @theplanetaryguy.com · 25/08/2026

I spoke at length with @keithpcooper.bsky.social for @space.com about what we should call Pluto on the 20th anniversary of its "demotion". It might seem like semantics, but the fact that we keep coming back to it means this issue still matters to people! (a short 🧵) www.space.com/astronomy/pl...

It's been 20 years since Pluto lost planet status. Will it ever get its title back?

The debate as to whether Pluto is a dwarf planet, or a fully fledged planet, continues to rage.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Paul Byrne brought that up in my conversation with him, and he said he was fine with 20, 50, even 200 planets, pointing out that other scientific fields don't limit their taxonomies, eg there isn't just 8 species of flower. I don't really have a rational argument to counter it, just an emotional one

Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Should Pluto be a planet? I didn't think so, but after talking to @theplanetaryguy.com for my article on the subject 20 years after Pluto's reclassification, I'm not so sure anymore! Though I'm still sceptical about classing Jupiter & Pluto as the same kind of object! www.space.com/astronomy/pl...

It's been 20 years since Pluto lost planet status. Will it ever get its title back?

The debate as to whether Pluto is a dwarf planet, or a fully fledged planet, continues to rage.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

New, by me: astronomers have had the clearest view yet of what's powering the mysterious little red dots found in the early universe. The JWST observations are the best evidence yet for a 'black-hole star' – a giant cocoon of gas harbouring a supermassive black hole physicsworld.com/a/little-red...

‘Little red dots’ could herald the birth of supermassive black holes – Physics World

Did cocoons of dense gas shine brightly in the early universe?

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Thanks! And well spotted re. the typo. It should say Vladimir Vernadsky, who was one of the forefathers of what became the Gaia hypothesis. I'll ask my editor to correct it. As a sf fan myself, topics such as this are among my favourite to write about!

Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Scientists look for biosignatures & technosignatures as signs of life, but what about signatures that are not high-technology but yet are still the imprint of conscious minds? I wrote about the concept of noosignatures, being developed by astrobiologist Julia DeMarines www.space.com/space-explor...

Are we overlooking signs of alien life that aren't technological or biological? 'Bread would be a signature of intelligence'

Not all signs of intelligence have to be highly technological. Take bread, for example.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Isn't SKA HQ at Jodrell? So there's going to be the main offices of the largest radio telescope ever built in the shadow of the decaying Lovell dish going to waste. Just about sums up the UK's approach to science.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I remember doing a third year lab project there. Didn't have a clue what I was doing but loved every second of being around the place.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

As a former Manchester student this is very sad. I appreciate everything comes to an end but JB is still very capable. The UK's a world leader in radio astronomy yet the funding body does not seem to have even considered what replaces Jodrell. Just scientific vandalism. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understands

Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

I wrote this article last week: would AI, trained on Earthly life, really be able to correctly distinguish between alien life and non-life that is outside its training data? Michigan's Christoph Adami has his doubts, but others are more confident in AI's versatility: www.space.com/space-explor...

Should we trust AI in the search for alien life? Scientists aren't so sure

New research suggests AI can be repeatedly fooled into mistaking non-life for life.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

That's no moon - or is it? An astonishingly large 'exosatellite' with Jupiter's mass has been found orbiting a brown dwarf that orbits a red dwarf star, but astronomers are debating how to classify this bizarre object. I wrote about it for @physicsworld.bsky.social physicsworld.com/a/discovery-...

Discovery of giant ‘exosatellite’ challenges our notion of what makes a moon – Physics World

In a novel three-tiered hierarchical system, the star CD-35 2722 is orbited by a brown dwarf that, in turn, is orbited by a newly discovered exosatellite candidate

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

The paperback edition of my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact comes out in two-and-a-half months. Pre-order your copy here, or at your local bookshop! reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/amazing...

Cover to Keith Cooper's non-fiction book, Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

The new August issue of Sky at Night Magazine features my article about rogue exoplanets, with some very nice artwork to boot – did you know that estimates suggest that there are more rogue planets wandering interstellar space alone than there are planets orbiting stars? It's a mind-boggling number!

Magazine spread showing an article about Rogue Worlds, with an artwork of an exoplanet without a star wandering interstellar space.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I remember seeing this for the first time when JMS presented it at Babcom '95 at the Birmingham NEC, it blew my mind. I really like how close the images match the music, right down to the laser blasts, and the ending with Garibaldi is perfect. I also really liked the Land of Confusion video too.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Is there really a lot less dark matter, or perhaps none at all, in the Bullet Cluster? And does this mean MOND is right? I wrote about a new paper that claims just this for @physicsworld.bsky.social. Personally though I'm dubious – and so are other scientists. physicsworld.com/a/does-the-b...

Does the Bullet Cluster contain a lot less dark matter than we thought? – Physics World

The Bullet Cluster of galaxies might only have half as much dark matter than scientists thought, or perhaps even none at all, according to a new look at

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Telescope technology has developed substantially over the past 250 years. I highlight some of the major developments, from mountaintops to space, and how telescopes that were once the province of rich men have been democratised for use by astronomers all over the world. www.space.com/technology/a...

America 250: How has telescope technology evolved since the dawn of the U.S.?

From mountaintops to space itself, the progression of telescope technology has been on the up for 250 years.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

One of the most stunning images to come from the Artemis II mission was Earthset, which was designed to replicate Apollo 8's Earthrise photograph, but will it have the same influence as that all-time classic? My latest for Supercluster: www.supercluster.com/editorial/fr...

supercluster.com

From Earthrise to Earthset

The original Earthrise photograph had an impact that almost transcended the Apollo missions themselves. It wasn’t the first picture of Earth taken from space, but those taken before it had largely gon...

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

It doesn't have to be sodium, they are looking at a lot of materials, various alkalines, so long as it photoionises quickly. My first thought was whether this material could be detected from afar spectroscopically?

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Brian Walsh told me that in the 80s German scientists launched some canisters of lithium and barium into space in a plasma physics experiment and they produced light. I think this is the paper, it mentions optical observations in the abstract: ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/407...

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

What's extra interesting about this proposal is it could also act as a SETI technosignature, either by detecting the material spectroscopically or by it fluorescing brightly when it photoionises. "It would be like sending up a flare," says Brian Walsh. Any interest, @astrowright.bsky.social?

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

My latest for @physicsworld.bsky.social: a new proposal called StormWall proposes filling Earth's magnetosphere with a photoionising material that would increase the density of plasma enough to create a buffer to ward off the most dangerous of solar storms: physicsworld.com/a/can-we-cre...

Can we create a shield to protect Earth from solar storms? – Physics World

A space-based system could help deflect potentially catastrophic interplanetary weather

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Sorry to hear that Meghan, I was put in this situation last year so I know how it feels. Hopefully you find something soon, I can vouch for you being a good editor!

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Juicy Lucy: NASA's Lucy mission to Jupiter's trojans flew past the asteroid known as Donaldjohanson (after the paleoanthropologist) and discovered an 8km bi-lobed object made from two chunks originating from the destruction of its parent body 155 Myr ago. New, by me: www.space.com/astronomy/as...

Juicy new details emerge about an asteroid NASA's Lucy spacecraft flew by last year

NASA's Lucy mission visited the asteroid Donaldjohanson, known as "DJ," in April 2025 on its way to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

New, by me: SETI's updated Declaration of Principles describing best practice in the aftermath of the detection of technological ET have been ratified by the IAA. "The new protocols commit us to openness – every step will be made public once a discovery is confirmed." www.space.com/space-explor...

How should we handle alien detection in a world of AI, deepfakes and social media? This committee is writing the rulebook

If and when SETI discovers alien life, then a revised Declaration of Principles guarantees that once the discovery has been verified, its disclosure will come soon thereafter.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

My 7-page feature looking back on the Artemis II mission can be found in the new issue from @physicsworld.bsky.social

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

The famous Very Large Array radio telescope is getting a huge upgrade in the form of the continent-spanning ngVLA. I wrote about this exciting new frontier in radio astronomy and what it'll achieve (imaging the formation of rocky planets!) for Supercluster www.supercluster.com/editorial/ra...

supercluster.com

On Location with the Next Generation VLA Telescope

A new structure has appeared in the desert. It’s a prototype radio dish for what is being called the next generation VLA, or ngVLA for short. When operational, the new and advanced radio telescope wil...

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

A small Universe might have collapsed by now from self-gravity. Or maybe life is so rare that the Universe needs to be big just to increase the chances of our own existence. A large expanding Universe might give life its best shot & the Anthropic principle means we find ourselves in such a Universe.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

Galaxy clusters drawn together by gravity suggest that Newton's and Einstein's laws of gravity hold over hundreds of millions of light years – but claims that this disproves theories of modified gravity, such as MOND, have been pushed back on. My new article: physicsworld.com/a/newtons-la...

Newton’s law describes gravity on cosmological scales, galaxy clusters reveal – Physics World

Observations appear to rule out MOND, but not everyone agrees

Reaktion Books @reaktionbooks.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Reposted by Keith Cooper

Listen now: author Keith Cooper talks to the New Books Network about Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact 🔉 buff.ly/coeLMqr 📚 buff.ly/hoqlQp8

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Lunar fly-by will be New Moon on Monday, and Planet Earth better be the wakeup song on the morning of re-entry

Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

I was interviewed by Miranda Melcher for @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social about my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact! We talked about all kinds of exoplanets, the science behind them, and the great science fiction that often features such worlds newbooksnetwork.com/amazing-worl...

newbooksnetwork.com

Keith Cooper, "Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact" (Reaktion, 2025) - New Books Network

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I really enjoyed Star King. It’s a basic revenge thriller told with a lot of panache. Dated in parts while surprisingly ahead of its time in others, it even includes discussions about contingent vs convergent evolution. Vance is underrated and I’m looking forward to discovering more of his work. 8/8

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

What’s cool about this system is that the black dwarf is part of a binary with a red dwarf star. The black dwarf is tidally locked, foreshadowing the tidally locked planets astronomers are finding around red dwarfs today. This must be one of the first examples of a red dwarf in science fiction. 7/

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

On Vance’s black dwarf, the surface has solidified and is covered in volcanoes powered by convective currents produced by the last gasps of heat escaping the black dwarf’s core. In reality, the immense gravity would render the surface – a mix of oxygen and carbon – a smooth crystalline lattice. 6/

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

The trouble is it takes longer than the entire history of the Universe for a white dwarf to cool into a black dwarf! So none should exist yet. Furthermore, they pack a substantial proportion of the mass of a star into a volume barely larger than Earth. The surface gravity would be crushing. 5/

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

The second planet isn’t a planet at all, but a black dwarf! Here Vance takes some huge liberties. When Sun-like stars die, they cast off their outer layers while leaving behind their inert 200,000 deg C hot core – a white dwarf. A black dwarf is what a white dwarf becomes once it has cooled down. 4/

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

The planet is inhabited by bipeds called dryads – half animal, half tree. They feed on giant grubs by impaling them with their proboscis. ‘Pods’ left by the grubs are seeds for trees that produce sacs inside which insects grow. On this planet, the animal and plant kingdoms are one and the same. 3/

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

The first planet is a stereotypical, lush Earth-like world that's so beautiful that the protagonists work to prevent the villain from claiming it. One of the characters describes it as being like Earth before homo sapiens came along. But it is the planet’s fauna that fascinates. 2/

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I’ve just completed reading Jack Vance’s 1964 science-fiction novel Star King, which is an enjoyable, galaxy-spanning revenge thriller, but it also includes a couple of fascinating planets. So, in the vein of my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact, let’s talk about them! 1/

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

The dissonance between this moment of perfect beauty and what's going on in the world right now is startling, but it is a timely reminder that we all live on one tiny, vulnerable planet, and yet we can do great things.

The crescent Earth setting over the limb of the Moon as seen by Artemis II

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Amazing and beautiful: Earth as seen from Artemis II.

Earth seen from the Artemis II mission while journeying to the Moon. There are stars in the background and white clouds swim over the planet.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Just a reminder that my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact, which is all about the planets of science fiction and how they compare to real planets, was to my great honour selected for Locus' 2025 Recommended Reading List and is eligible to be voted for in the Locus Awards.

Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

New, article by me: the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is probably 11–12 billion years old, based on an assessment of its isotopic composition. Remarkable that I was able to see something so cosmologically ancient with my SeeStar S30 smart telescope a few months ago! www.space.com/astronomy/co...

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS may be nearly 12 billion years old — so ancient its star system may no longer exist

Our solar system's famous "invader" might be as old as the Milky Way itself.

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Keith Cooper @keithpcooper.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

While I'm dubious of the feasibility of NASA's plan to launch a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars by 2028, it would be the culmination of over 60 years of experiments. Here I describe the ways nuclear power is used in space, from RTGs to nuclear electric propulsion: www.space.com/space-explor...