Capt. William Shepherd, USN (Ret.), graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1971 and served with U.S. Navy Special Warfare units in the Pacific and European theaters. In 1984, he was selected as a NASA astronaut and flew on three space shuttle flights carrying satellites and scientific payloads to space. In 2000, Capt. Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts launched from Kazakhstan on a Soyuz rocket, docked with the International Space Station, and started Expedition One's 141-day mission in orbit. Capt. Shepherd retired from the space program in 2001 and is currently on staff as a senior researcher at Stevens Institute in Hoboken, N.J., where he lectures on applied system engineering and project management. 

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New research suggests that trees largely recover from storms within two years, and that coastal trees may be stressed from sea-level rise....

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The successful conclusion to Artemis II; the threat of termination to many other missions....

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The start of spring 2026 brought bouts of heavy rain to much of Michigan. Above-normal levels of precipitation in March and early April--exacerbated by snowmelt in the northern part of the state--saturated soils and caused damaging flooding along multiple rivers. A flood watch spanned the entirety of both the upper and lower peninsulas as rain continued to fall in mid-April.

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Matt and I were discussing a paper from last year, Korneisel and Maddin (2025) on the evolution of the atlas-axis complex. (It's excellent, by the way. Really comprehensive.)

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After a July 2025 glacier lake outburst flood in Hassanabad, the U.N. coordinated a relief and early recovery plan that is supporting reconstruction and humanitarian assistance....

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On April 4, comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) plunged toward the Sun -- flying about twice as far from our star as the Moon is from Earth. Comet watchers held their collective breath, waiting to see whether comet MAPS would survive its sweltering passage b...

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It's always more interesting than I think!

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 My next post about the Geology of the National Parks Through Pictures is from our move across the country from Utah to New York. Along the way we visited 13 National Parks as well as some other sites. This was the 10th National Park along the way.

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In a remote part of northern Mauritania on the Adrar Plateau lies a desert landscape rich in human history. This region of northwestern Africa is sprinkled with Paleolithic stone tools, Neolithic cave paintings, and the remains of medieval towns once used by caravans crossing the Sahara Desert.

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As NASA's X-59 quiet supersonic jet takes to the air, its sleek configuration is now on display thanks to a key milestone it reached in April - flying wheels-up. The transition marks an important step in the aircraft's testing.

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Daryush Nourbaha, an M.S. in Sustainability Science alum, reflects on the heavy toll of global conflict....

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Early spring around Hudson Bay in northern Canada is largely indistinguishable from winter. Sea ice still clings to land, and the boggy lowlands remain frozen. In the dulled tones of the boreal landscape, however, snow helps accentuate the area's subtle topography. In late March 2026, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this photo of frozen channels feeding Hannah Bay--a southern offshoot of James Bay, which is itself an extension of Hudson Bay.

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Columbia Climate School students tackled real-world conservation challenges in one of the planet's most biodiverse regions....

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The hatches are open between Northrop Grumman's second Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft and the International Space Station following its robotic capture and installation on Monday. The Expedition 74 crew is now beginning to unload some of the new science and crew supplies delivered on Monday.

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In mid-April 2026, a powerful typhoon bore down on the Mariana Islands in the North Pacific Ocean. The storm, Super Typhoon Sinlaku, was notable for reaching such exceptional strength so early in the year.

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We're delighted to have Prof. Licia Verde talking to us on the coming Monday at 4 pm ET. Licia is the editor and scientific director of Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP).

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When you learn the landscape, something as subtle as a dip in the road can yield a story.

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Here are some of the devices and appliances that might be secretly costing you money and energy, and how to save on both....

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Proposed NASA cuts would reduce NASA's workforce by thousands and cancel over 50 space missions....

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Behold. The festering carcass of American rot shoved into an ill-fitting suit: the sleaze of a conman, the gluttony of a parasite, the racism of a Klansman, the sexism of a back-alley creep, the ignorance of a bar-stool drunk, and ... Continue readin...

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April 13, 2026 - April 16 2026

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A friend who has been part of the Ribbons of Green brain trust for the last six years reminded me over a taco truck library bench lunch today about the expectations I confront as the book emerges in the next six weeks into public view.

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A priest, an engineer and an economist are stranded on a desert island. The first order of business is to get some food. The priest suggests that they all pray. The practical-minded engineer suggests that the three men make a net to...

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The Artemis II crew of NASA astronauts - Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen - has returned to the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston following their historic lunar flyby mission. 

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