Scientists look for biosignatures & technosignatures as signs of life, but what about signatures that are not high-technology but yet are still the imprint of conscious minds? I wrote about the concept of noosignatures, being developed by astrobiologist Julia DeMarines www.space.com/space-explor...

Are we overlooking signs of alien life that aren't technological or biological? 'Bread would be a signature of intelligence'

Not all signs of intelligence have to be highly technological. Take bread, for example.

space.com

As a former Manchester student this is very sad. I appreciate everything comes to an end but JB is still very capable. The UK's a world leader in radio astronomy yet the funding body does not seem to have even considered what replaces Jodrell. Just scientific vandalism. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understands

Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.

bbc.co.uk

I wrote this article last week: would AI, trained on Earthly life, really be able to correctly distinguish between alien life and non-life that is outside its training data? Michigan's Christoph Adami has his doubts, but others are more confident in AI's versatility: www.space.com/space-explor...

Should we trust AI in the search for alien life? Scientists aren't so sure

New research suggests AI can be repeatedly fooled into mistaking non-life for life.

space.com

That's no moon - or is it? An astonishingly large 'exosatellite' with Jupiter's mass has been found orbiting a brown dwarf that orbits a red dwarf star, but astronomers are debating how to classify this bizarre object. I wrote about it for @physicsworld.bsky.social physicsworld.com/a/discovery-...

Discovery of giant ‘exosatellite’ challenges our notion of what makes a moon – Physics World

In a novel three-tiered hierarchical system, the star CD-35 2722 is orbited by a brown dwarf that, in turn, is orbited by a newly discovered exosatellite candidate

physicsworld.com

The paperback edition of my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact comes out in two-and-a-half months. Pre-order your copy here, or at your local bookshop! reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/amazing...

The new August issue of Sky at Night Magazine features my article about rogue exoplanets, with some very nice artwork to boot – did you know that estimates suggest that there are more rogue planets wandering interstellar space alone than there are planets orbiting stars? It's a mind-boggling number!

Is there really a lot less dark matter, or perhaps none at all, in the Bullet Cluster? And does this mean MOND is right? I wrote about a new paper that claims just this for @physicsworld.bsky.social. Personally though I'm dubious – and so are other scientists. physicsworld.com/a/does-the-b...

Does the Bullet Cluster contain a lot less dark matter than we thought? – Physics World

The Bullet Cluster of galaxies might only have half as much dark matter than scientists thought, or perhaps even none at all, according to a new look at

physicsworld.com

Telescope technology has developed substantially over the past 250 years. I highlight some of the major developments, from mountaintops to space, and how telescopes that were once the province of rich men have been democratised for use by astronomers all over the world. www.space.com/technology/a...

America 250: How has telescope technology evolved since the dawn of the U.S.?

From mountaintops to space itself, the progression of telescope technology has been on the up for 250 years.

space.com

One of the most stunning images to come from the Artemis II mission was Earthset, which was designed to replicate Apollo 8's Earthrise photograph, but will it have the same influence as that all-time classic? My latest for Supercluster: www.supercluster.com/editorial/fr...

From Earthrise to Earthset

The original Earthrise photograph had an impact that almost transcended the Apollo missions themselves. It wasn’t the first picture of Earth taken from space, but those taken before it had largely gon...

supercluster.com

My latest for @physicsworld.bsky.social: a new proposal called StormWall proposes filling Earth's magnetosphere with a photoionising material that would increase the density of plasma enough to create a buffer to ward off the most dangerous of solar storms: physicsworld.com/a/can-we-cre...

Can we create a shield to protect Earth from solar storms? – Physics World

A space-based system could help deflect potentially catastrophic interplanetary weather

physicsworld.com

Juicy Lucy: NASA's Lucy mission to Jupiter's trojans flew past the asteroid known as Donaldjohanson (after the paleoanthropologist) and discovered an 8km bi-lobed object made from two chunks originating from the destruction of its parent body 155 Myr ago. New, by me: www.space.com/astronomy/as...

Juicy new details emerge about an asteroid NASA's Lucy spacecraft flew by last year

NASA's Lucy mission visited the asteroid Donaldjohanson, known as "DJ," in April 2025 on its way to Jupiter's Trojan asteroids.

space.com

New, by me: SETI's updated Declaration of Principles describing best practice in the aftermath of the detection of technological ET have been ratified by the IAA. "The new protocols commit us to openness – every step will be made public once a discovery is confirmed." www.space.com/space-explor...

How should we handle alien detection in a world of AI, deepfakes and social media? This committee is writing the rulebook

If and when SETI discovers alien life, then a revised Declaration of Principles guarantees that once the discovery has been verified, its disclosure will come soon thereafter.

space.com

My 7-page feature looking back on the Artemis II mission can be found in the new issue from @physicsworld.bsky.social

The famous Very Large Array radio telescope is getting a huge upgrade in the form of the continent-spanning ngVLA. I wrote about this exciting new frontier in radio astronomy and what it'll achieve (imaging the formation of rocky planets!) for Supercluster www.supercluster.com/editorial/ra...

On Location with the Next Generation VLA Telescope

A new structure has appeared in the desert. It’s a prototype radio dish for what is being called the next generation VLA, or ngVLA for short. When operational, the new and advanced radio telescope wil...

supercluster.com

How Artemis II took humans back to the Moon – my latest article for @physicsworld.bsky.social . It was a privilege to write in depth about such an amazing mission. physicsworld.com/a/one-giant-...

One giant leap: Artemis II returns humanity to the Moon – Physics World

Artemis II has returned humanity to the Moon, gripping the world with excitement and curiosity. Keith Cooper follows the mission’s journey and looks at what comes next for humans in space

physicsworld.com

Galaxy clusters drawn together by gravity suggest that Newton's and Einstein's laws of gravity hold over hundreds of millions of light years – but claims that this disproves theories of modified gravity, such as MOND, have been pushed back on. My new article: physicsworld.com/a/newtons-la...

Newton’s law describes gravity on cosmological scales, galaxy clusters reveal – Physics World

Observations appear to rule out MOND, but not everyone agrees

physicsworld.com

Listen now: author Keith Cooper talks to the New Books Network about Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact 🔉 buff.ly/coeLMqr 📚 buff.ly/hoqlQp8

I was interviewed by Miranda Melcher for @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social about my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact! We talked about all kinds of exoplanets, the science behind them, and the great science fiction that often features such worlds newbooksnetwork.com/amazing-worl...

I’ve just completed reading Jack Vance’s 1964 science-fiction novel Star King, which is an enjoyable, galaxy-spanning revenge thriller, but it also includes a couple of fascinating planets. So, in the vein of my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact, let’s talk about them! 1/

The dissonance between this moment of perfect beauty and what's going on in the world right now is startling, but it is a timely reminder that we all live on one tiny, vulnerable planet, and yet we can do great things.

Amazing and beautiful: Earth as seen from Artemis II.

Just a reminder that my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact, which is all about the planets of science fiction and how they compare to real planets, was to my great honour selected for Locus' 2025 Recommended Reading List and is eligible to be voted for in the Locus Awards.

Locus Magazine@locusmag.bsky.social · 4mo ago

THE DEADLINE IS ALMOST HERE! Vote on or by April 1 in the annual Locus Awards Poll & Survey to determine the winners of the 2026 awards (tickets available now)! You can vote at poll.voting.locusmag... or via the link in our bio!

New, article by me: the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS is probably 11–12 billion years old, based on an assessment of its isotopic composition. Remarkable that I was able to see something so cosmologically ancient with my SeeStar S30 smart telescope a few months ago! www.space.com/astronomy/co...

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS may be nearly 12 billion years old — so ancient its star system may no longer exist

Our solar system's famous "invader" might be as old as the Milky Way itself.

space.com

While I'm dubious of the feasibility of NASA's plan to launch a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars by 2028, it would be the culmination of over 60 years of experiments. Here I describe the ways nuclear power is used in space, from RTGs to nuclear electric propulsion: www.space.com/space-explor...

NASA is developing the '1st nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft.' What about the Voyager probes?

What is nuclear electric propulsion and how is it different from radioisotope thermoelectric generators?

space.com

My article about the recent results from DESI suggesting that dark energy might be weakening, decelerating the expansion of the Universe and what that might mean for the ultimate fate of the cosmos, is on the cover of the April issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine – on sale in all good newsagents!

My new article is a SETI one, about how space weather from stars home to broadcasting aliens could affect their transmissions. 15 years ago some SETI scientists would tell me that ET would do the heavy lifting for us, & now we realise we have to work harder to find them www.space.com/space-explor...

Where are all the aliens? Maybe space weather is scrambling their transmissions

"If a signal gets broadened by its own star's environment, it can slip below our detection thresholds, even if it's there."

space.com

A reminder that my book Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact was selected by Locus Magazine for their 2025 recommended reading list in the non-fiction category, and if you enjoyed my book please consider voting for it in the Locus Awards!

Locus Magazine@locusmag.bsky.social · 5mo ago

It's that time! Vote in the annual Locus Awards Poll & Survey to determine the winners of the 2026 awards (tickets available now)! You can vote at poll.voting.locusmag... or via the link in our bio!

The latest by me: exciting astrobiology news! Amino acids in the sample brought back by NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu have a different origin to those found in meteorites, suggesting that there basic building blocks for life could have been widespread www.space.com/astronomy/as...

Asteroid samples NASA brought to Earth suggest life's building blocks may be widespread in the universe

"This confirms that life's building blocks can be formed in a diversity of environments throughout the universe."

space.com

For more about Amazing Worlds, take a listen to @jackewilson.bsky.social's conversation with author Keith Cooper. @reaktionbooks.bsky.social #books #sciencefiction #sciencefact

708 Science Fact and Science Fiction (with Keith Cooper) | AI Di…

For decades, writers and filmmakers have imagined worlds where characters can do things like watch a double sunset (on Tatooine, of course), or stand among the sand…

historyofliterature.com

Reaktion Books@reaktionbooks.bsky.social · 6mo ago

The Locus 2025 Recommended Reading List is out, and vote in the awards! 📌 buff.ly/f6POPqk 📚 buff.ly/1Lb4PGQ

New, by me: Did the Viking landers discover life on Mars 50 years ago? A new paper convincingly argues that there's a very good chance they did, and rather than the results being swept under the rug, a scientific debate is needed to figure out what Viking really found. www.space.com/space-explor...

Did the Viking missions discover life on Mars 50 years ago? These scientists think so

The key to solving the mystery of the Viking results is the discovery of perchlorate on the Martian surface in 2008.

space.com