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Recent Posts: M Thomas Apple Author Page
New dwarf planet discovered?
The new dwarf planet candidate joins thousands of known objects in an area of the solar system beyond Neptune known as the Kuiper Belt. And the scientists say there may be more of them. https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2026-10-27/potential-new-dwarf-planet-found-by-harvard-astrophysicists The Vera C Rubin Observatory (in Chile) which enabled astrophysicists from Harvard to spot “2026 ED138” will be featured in […]
New goal for JAXA: Fear!
While NASA has successfully landed nine spacecraft on Mars over the past 50 years and China scored a 2021 touchdown, no one has ever reached Phobos or its sidekick Deimos. And no one has managed to fetch samples from Mars, let alone its moons. https://apnews.com/article/japan-mars-moon-mission-fb51fbbf90374631e8ae658f9ca461 JAXA launched their MMX (Martian Moon Explorer) spacecraft successfully on October 20th. It hopes […]
Beyond Spacesuits: How Genetic Engineering Could Make Us Martian
When we think about colonizing Mars, we usually imagine advanced spacesuits, dome cities, and massive terraforming projects. Beyond Spacesuits: How Genetic Engineering Could Make Us Martian Wish I had seen this writing prompt this past June! I could have written… Well, probably something very similar to this. Only without the obvious use of AI. Just […]
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Author Archives: MThomas
Nanakusa: A Japanese Epiphany? (Holidays part 3)
It seems like no coincidence that Nana-kusa is at the beginning of the final solar period of winter. Continue reading
Posted in eating, holidays, Japan
Tagged Christmas, holidays, Japan, Japanese holidays, Nanakusa, shogatsu
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Home for the holidays (Part 2)
As I wrote a couple days ago, I’ve been spending the New Year’s holidays with my wife’s family in Kagoshima for a decade now. In that span of time, there have been five children born into the immediate extended family, … Continue reading
Home for the holidays (Part 1)
After a series of fairly serious blog posts related to an ongoing complaint against Amazon (which was somewhat, but not entirely, resolved), I thought it was about time to post about a slightly more innocuous topic: Making pottery at the … Continue reading
Posted in family outings, holidays, Japan, trips
Tagged bullet train, child-raising, Japan, Japanese, Kyushu, New Year's, shinkansen
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