Categories
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 […]
Top Posts & Pages
copyright disclaimer
© Matthew Apple and Taking Leave, 2009-2020. Duplication of this material without express and written permission is strictly prohibited. If you would like to post or copy brief excerpts from the blog, please provide a link to the original URL along with an author’s credit.
Author Archives: MThomas
More updates on Amazon Japan’s child porn and abuse images
I previously posted in October about the child abuse images and pornographic materials being openly sold on Amazon (also on Rakuten and Tsutaya). An online protest was started shortly thereafter, and Amazon Japan responded by (partly) removing the most offensive items. … Continue reading
“International” kindergarten open day
Today we went to “open day” at a nearby “international kindergarten,” where our oldest daughter has gone for two years to Saturday classes. The previous week, our youngest daughter joined the four-hour class for the first time, but we were … Continue reading
The Joy of Reading
We were eager to have books readily available for our kids…and not just available, but in a location where the kids could choose the books they wanted, when they wanted. So we arranged for the cubbyhole built into the staircase in the living room, and we had two small bookcases put into the kids’ play room.
It was up to us to provide the materials… Continue reading