It’s the end of the first week in November – and of course, the big news that has us simultaneously elated and jealous is the story of how 10-year-old boy, Canadian Nathan Gray discovered a 600-million-year-old supernova. 

NASA Scientists Discuss Upcoming Mission to Mars – “The MAVEN spacecraft is currently scheduled for launch November 18, 2013 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.” Briefing participants include John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters and Lisa May, MAVEN program executive:

Tim Minchin’s essay from The Best Australian Science Writing 2013 has been reprinted in the Sydney Morning Herald: “Science inspires, so don’t let your art rule your head”:

Science is not the opposite of art, nor the opposite of spirituality – whatever that is – and you don’t have to deny scientific knowledge in order to make beautiful things. On the contrary, great science writing is the art of communicating that ”awe of understanding”, so that we readers can revel in the beauty of a deeper knowledge of our world.

The Subterranean War on Science by Stephan Lewandowsky, Michael E. Mann, Linda Bauld, Gerard Hastings, and Elizabeth F. Loftus, in The Observer,Vol.26, No.9 November, 2013 – in short, science denial kills:

This article surveys some of the principal techniques by which the authors have been harassed; namely, cyber-bullying and public abuse; harassment by vexatious freedom-of-information (FOI) requests, complaints, and legal threats or actions; and perhaps most troubling, by the intimidation of journal editors who are acting on manuscripts that are considered inconvenient by deniers. The uniformity with which these attacks are pursued across several disciplines suggests that their motivation is not scientific in nature.

Robots that walk, talk and some that can do “Gangnam Style” - New York Times.

Every flu vaccine myth debunked - Tara Haelle smashes it out with this excellent resource.

Awww –  Little Girl Dresses Up as All Eleven Doctors From ‘Doctor Who’ For Halloween.

Why Do I Study Physics? See for yourself:

The neuroscience of… zombies? Taking the fiction into possible fact, neuroscientists Bradley Voytek, of the University of California, San Diego, and Tim Verstynen, of Carnegie Mellon University, got thinking about what causes zombies to behave as they do.

YouTube Tutorials for Science Experiments - just in time to celebrate Carl Sagan Day!

Will Earth have a 2032 run-in with a big asteroid? Almost surely not, but we plan to keep a close watch on 2013 TV135 says SETI.

On The Atlantic – Maybe It’s A Bad Idea to Resolve Arguments by Texting, Says Science. But sending “I love you” makes you feel good. So, there’s something to do today!

What Ender’s Game Gets Right About Communicating With Aliens – Wired Science – however, the debate about Card’s peculiar personal politics continues.

…and just because it’s happening this month (Time! Space! Doctors!) - in the build up to Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary, RadioTimes.com wants your verdict on the best Doctor from the last 50 years!