Melanie Meadors, Author at GeekMom

How Will NASA’s DART Asteroid Mission Work?

November 27, 2021November 26, 2021Melanie Meadors

What is NASA’s DART asteroid mission, and how will it protect us from near-Earth objects?

Margaret Beaufort: The Pain, Piety, and Politics of a Medieval King’s Mother, Part 1

November 21, 2021November 20, 2021Melanie Meadors

How did Margaret Beaufort go from daughter of a tainted family to mother of a king? Find out in the first of a three-part series!

New Black Hole Discovered Outside Our Galaxy

November 11, 2021November 10, 2021Melanie Meadors

The same thing that keeps Earth in orbit around the Sun can help us detect black holes: gravity. And that’s just how astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope found a small black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a next door neighbor galaxy to our own.

Medieval Women: Fact from Fiction

November 1, 2021October 31, 2021Melanie Meadors

Let’s take a deeper look at the various roles and identities of two European women in the Middle Ages to dispel some fact from fiction.

Bicycles for Women: Fashion, Freedom, and Function, Part 3

October 25, 2021October 25, 2021Melanie Meadors

What were some of the cultural impacts of women and bicycles at the time? That’s the subject of this concluding part of Melanie’s series. Be sure to read parts one and two of the series as well!

Bicycles for Women: Fashion, Freedom, and Function, Part 2

October 18, 2021October 17, 2021Melanie Meadors

Bicycles were a big deal for women in the 1890s, but why? Was it just a fashion statement, or did it really give women a sense of freedom and emancipation from standard gender roles? In part two of my series, I will show how bicycles became more useful to women at the time, why they rode them, and what stood in their way.

Fashion, Freedom, and Function: Women and Bicycles, Part 1

October 13, 2021October 13, 2021Melanie Meadors

This post is the first in my new series about women and bicycles at the turn of the twentieth century. The 1890s saw what was called a “bicycle craze” among women. What was this about? Why women, and why then? Was the bicycle movement just fashion, or did it really lead to more freedom for women? I’m hoping this series will not only answer these questions, but pique people’s interest to learn more.

Space Junk On the Rise: Cleaning Up Our Act

March 15, 2021March 15, 2021Melanie Meadors

Since the dawn of space programs around the world, space junk has been steadily increasing. Find out why this is a problem.

Mars Month: How NASA Picked the Perseverance Rover Landing Site

July 31, 2020Melanie Meadors

NASA had very clear mission objectives for Mars Perserverance. How did they find a site that fulfilled all of them?

Mars Month: Signs of Possible Life at Mars Perseverance Site

July 26, 2020Melanie Meadors

Scientists have found possible signs of ancient life at the Mars Perseverance landing site! What does this mean? Read on!

Mercury and Its Magnetic Field: More Than Meets the Eye

May 10, 2020May 10, 2020Melanie Meadors2

There is more to Mercury than meets the eye, and its secret lies in its magnetic field.

‘Archaeology From Space’: How Remote Sensing Helps

May 3, 2020May 2, 2020Melanie Meadors

Archaeology from space? How can a subject we think of as very hands-on be done from thousands of miles away?

Why Is the Sky Blue? Some Science You Can Understand

March 28, 2020March 28, 2020Melanie Meadors3

Why is the sky blue? Teachers and parents don’t always have answers, but science whiz Melanie Meadors explains in a way even the most non-sciencey of people can understand!

Betelgeuse: Dimming or Just Dusty? Astronomers Find Clues

March 20, 2020March 19, 2020Melanie Meadors

Betelgeuse has been dimming over the past several months. Astronomers think they have uncovered the key to why.

Viruses as Weapons? Caltech Biologist Doesn’t Think So

March 18, 2020March 17, 2020Melanie Meadors

Viruses have been used as weapons in movies and conspiracy theories for years, but is it plausible? A Caltech biologist weighs in.

Active Volcanoes on Venus? Scientists Find New Evidence!

March 15, 2020March 14, 2020Melanie Meadors

Scientists think they have found evidence of active volcanoes on the planet Venus! Read on to find out why this is so cool.

‘How We’ll Live on Mars’: The Book that Inspired the TV Series

March 5, 2020March 4, 2020Melanie Meadors

Check out this review of Stephen Petranek’s book ‘How We’ll Live on Mars,’ the inspiration behind Ron Howard’s series ‘Mars’ on the National Geographic Channel!