There are a record breaking three Category 4 hurricanes and a new tropical depression in this August 30, 2015 image of the Pacific Ocean taken with NASA’s GOES-15 satellite. We depend on our ability to observe Earth from space. So why is Congress gutting the program?

This article originally appeared in my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.”

Genetic algorithms are revolutionizing our world by reconnecting engineering with its four-billion-year-old roots.

Republished from my monthly Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.

For the first time in history we can tell the story of our existence beginning with the origin of the universe, and ending with you sitting there reading this article. And an amazing story it is!

Republished from my Astronomy Magazine column, For Your Consideration.”

An error in Hubble’s primary mirror had the mission on life support from the very beginning. There are technical answers to exactly what happened. But the real culprit was plain, everyday wishful thinking.

It can feel really good to call someone out when they cross a line. But if you want to accomplishing something positive, tweeting from the hip is probably the wrong way to go.

Much of the economic discussion between liberals and conservatives is an argument over how to arrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. The only question that really matters is how to keep the whole ship from going under. (The final installment in an 8 part series on Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.”)

Whether as inherited capital, high incomes or the coffers of corporate “persons,” money begats money as never before. In a modern capitalist economy, that is really all you need to know. (Part 7 in a series on Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.”)

For 60 years, policy-makers have looked to the Kuznets Curve for evidence that a rising tide lifts all boats. It is a lovely thought, if only it were true. (Part 6 in a series on Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.”)

A single simple idea can change the terms of a conversation. The core of “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” is that kind of idea. It shifts the paradigm. Instead of trying to explain correlations, Piketty makes testable predictions. For those who take the time to understand him, Piketty changes the way people see.  (Part 5 in a series on Thomas Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century.”)