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A year ago, Ellen Stofan, a chief scientist at NASA, made a bold prediction on the question of the discovery of alien life in the universe: I think we’re going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we’re going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years
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That day Julie decided they would eat lunch on the deck. She carried out a tray with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, baby carrots, grapes, a cup of juice for Libby and a bottled water for herself, and put them on the picnic table. “There,” she said. “We won’t even need forks or spoons, and
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In the fall the war was always there, but we did not go to it any more. It was cold in the fall in Milan and the dark came very early. Then the electric lights came on, and it was pleasant along the streets looking in the windows. There was much game hanging outside the
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Though I generally enjoy my solitary days, living alone as the caretaker for my daughter’s four-bedroom house is not always idyllic. In addition to my own work, I keep the yard shaped up, maintain the house in reasonably good order, and prepare my meals. I try to eat healthy foods but take little pleasure in
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Is the universe a meaningless collection of lifeless matter? We live on a small planet in an out-of-the-way corner of an insignificant galaxy, and though our lives might feel real and important, is that just a delusion? After all, the only thing that’s really going on is that atoms are randomly careening off of one
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The Book of Daniel tells us that the three Jewish youths in Babylon were cast into a “white-hot furnace” for not falling down and worshipping the king’s golden statue. Thousands of early Christians were reportedly martyred for refusing to deny Christ and affirm the divinity of the Roman emperor. Of course, this kind of thing
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