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Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Strange New Words—🥩—MEAT, MEAT, MEAT, MEAT (February’s Short Story Pick)

A hilarious look at what intelligent life looks like

Created for znamenski.spacecom@blogger.com | Web Version

February 25, 2026

Space.com's Sci-Fi Reader's Club

Letter from the Editor

Howdy sci-fi fans!

Hello sci-fi fans!

We hope you had as much fun reading this micro-story as we did. If you want to see us completely derail about this story, go watch our staff roundtable video below.

To recap, for February, we picked Terry Bisson’s “They’re Made of Meat”, where we dive into intelligent aliens, the flaws of humanity, and…gross meat?

You’ll find the story below (if you haven’t read it yet), along with the discussion questions and other science fiction recommendations. Be sure to vote for March’s story before the year is up!

As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on the story over on our socials @spacedotcom.

— Kenna & Ian

This Month's Short Story,

"They're Made of Meat" by Terry Bisson

In “They’re Made of Meat,” two beings discuss a newly discovered intelligent species. The catch? The species isn’t silicon-based, energy-based, or anything sleek and futuristic. It’s… meat. Thinking meat. Talking meat. Dreaming meat.

What unfolds is a rapid-fire exchange that’s funny on the surface—the universe can’t believe we’re like this — but also quietly cutting. If intelligence can come packaged in something as messy and perishable as flesh, what does that say about our assumptions of what “advanced” looks like?

Read the story here

Disclaimer: All stories linked through this club are hosted on their original publishers’ websites. We do not reproduce or host the stories ourselves. Links are provided solely for readers’ convenience and discussion purposes. Copyright and all rights remain with the original authors and publishers.

Discussion Questions

Questions to to get to the meat of the story (yeah, not sorry)

Because half the fun of reading isn't just turning the pages, it's what happens when we start talking about them. So below are a few questions to think about while you're reading the story.

What’s the most insulting part of “they’re made of meat”?
Are the aliens biased… or just practicing cosmic common sense?
You have 30 seconds to convince the alien committee that humans are worth talking to. What do you lead with: art, math, kindness, dogs, memes… or “please don’t judge us by Florida”?
Okay, fine. What should count as “intelligent life?”

We’ll be revisiting some of these questions in our end-of-month wrap-up — and we’re excited to see your answers in the comments and on socials (@spacedotcom)

Vote For Next Month's Story

Here are March's story options

Be sure to vote before the end of the month!

"We can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K Dick (inspo for "Total Recall")

"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin

"I have no mouth and I must scream" by Harlan Ellison

If You Like That Story, Try This Book!

Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories

From acclaimed master of science fiction, Terry Bisson, Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories brings together his Hugo Award-winning short story with eighteen other classics

Buy your own copy here

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Cordura Nylon vs. Cotton Duck: Analyzing Abrasion and Thermal Failure

Choosing between Cordura and Canvas Duck requires analyzing how each material fails under stress. As your fabric supplier, we knows that Cordura (Nylon 6.6) excels at resisting abrasion and water, making it the superior choice for lightweight tactical gear. Canvas Duck (Cotton), with its plied yarn construction, dominates in heat resistance and breathability, making it mandatory for welders and industrial workwear.

Cordura is an air-jet textured nylon filament designed to slide. In laboratory Wyzenbeek abrasion testing, our 1000 Denier Nylon withstands over 300,000 double rubs. The synthetic filaments refuse to break under friction, whereas natural fibers eventually grind away. This makes nylon the correct specification for motorcycle skid zones or backpack bases. However, this strength comes with a thermal weakness. Nylon is a thermoplastic that melts at approximately 255°C. If you expose it to welding slag or a campfire, it melts and fuses to skin.

Canvas Duck is mechanically distinct from standard canvas due to its 2x2 plied yarn weave. This dense structure, found in our Number 1 Heavyweight Duck, resists punctures and snags better than looser weaves. Critically, cotton is cellulosic. It chars at high heat but never melts. This thermal safety profile is why industrial tradesmen rely on duck cloth. For weather protection, untreated cotton absorbs water, but applying wax transforms it. Our Waxed Canvas Army Duck offers excellent water repellency while developing a rich patina that synthetic 500 Denier Cordura cannot replicate. Synthetics often suffer from hydrolysis and coating failure after a decade, whereas cotton softens and improves with age. If your new gear feels too rigid, our guide on how to soften stiff duck cloth explains how to break it in quickly.

Select Cordura for weight savings and wet environments. Select Canvas Duck for fire safety and breathability. You can compare these textures directly by ordering printed fabric swatches before starting your next project.

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Chinese astronauts reveal new details of damaged Shenzhou spacecraft

Chinese astronauts reveal new details of damaged spacecraft | Spotlight: Lego 3-in-1 Space Exploration Telescope | Where to see the total lunar eclipse on March 3

Created for znamenski.spacecom@blogger.com | Web Version

February 24, 2026

Taking you out of this world, every day

The Launchpad

Chinese astronauts reveal new details of damaged spacecraft

(CNSA)

Hey, Space Fans! Welcome to your daily dose of space from Space.com and today our top story is all about China's recent Shenzhou 20 astronauts, who revealed that the spacecraft damage that left them "stranded" on the Tiangong space station was more serious than we initially thought. Our Space Insider columnist Leonard David has the full story.

But don't stop there! We've also got a guide on what to expect for next week's Blood moon eclipse, Artemis 2 rollback updates and a fun take on what it would really take to live on Mars below.

Space deal of the day

Spotlight: Lego 3-in-1 Space Exploration Telescope

(Kim Snaith)

When it comes to Lego and space, it seems like spaceships and NASA shuttles and space stations get all the glory. But that's not so with this adorable 3-in-1 Lego Creator set that puts the solar system in sight with a spot-on telescope model. Here's our review.

Skywatching

Where to see the total lunar eclipse on March 3

(WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

The March 2026 total lunar eclipse will bring a dramatic blood moon to skies across North America, Australia, New Zealand and eastern Asia — if you know where to look. But don't worry, we've done the work for you.

Spaceflight

NASA's Artemis 2 moon rocket rollback set for Feb. 25

TOPSHOT - One of the massive RS-25 engines for NASA's Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket is displayed near the countdown clock at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on February 20, 2026. NASA performed their second wet dress rehearsal prior to sending four astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA officials said they are targeting March 6 for the crewed flight to the moon. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP via Getty Images)

(Gregg Newton/Getty Images)

You might have been expecting NASA's Artemis 2 moon rocket to roll back into its hangar today (honestly, so were we), but NASA has punted for a day. The rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building for the Artemis 2 rocket is now set for no earlier than Wednesday, Feb. 25. Here's what we know.

Science & Astronomy

Warped starlight in spacetime could find hidden black holes

(Max Planck Institute)

If you're looking for something truly far out, here's something new from scientists on the hunt for binary black holes: Gravitational lenses of warped spacetime just might reveal twin black holes before gravitational waves ever do. It's a wild idea, and these scientists explain it all here.

Satellites see bomb cyclone hit northeast US with snow

(CSU/CIRA & NOAA)

In case you missed it, we had a blizzard hit Space.com's home offices here in New York City (which also affected the entire US Northeast) and satellites were key in tracking the storm. Here, we found some of the most striking views of the storm from space.

Entertainment

Can you really survive on Mars? What sci-fi gets wrong

(20th Century Studios)

It may have felt as cold as Mars during the US winter storm this week, but what if we REALLY lived on the Red Planet? Science fiction has had some great ideas of what that would look like (ahem, The Martian), but we put that and other film ideas to an astrophysicist to see what worked and what doesn't.

Today in Space

Space photo of the day: Stars carve egg-shaped nebula

(ESO/G. Tomassini et al.)

Today's space photo of the day cooks up a pretty view. The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telesope captured this view of an egg-shaped binary star system inside an orange cocoon. The result is a stunning space image and that's no yoke! (Okay, that's enough for the puns, see how the photo was made here.)

Learn about the photo

On this day: The first pulsar is found!

Miss Jocelyn Bell', 1968. A photograph of Jocelyn Bell Burnell (born 1943) at the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory at Cambridge University, taken for the Daily Herald newspaper in 1968. /nJocelyn Bell studied physics at Glasgow University and entered Cambridge University as a graduate student, assisting Anthony Hewish with his research on quasars. /nIn 1967, having analysed hundreds of metres of print-outs from a radiotelescope she had helped to construct, Bell noted signals that were too fast and regular to come from quasars. After ruling out 'little green men', she discovered the signals must come from pulsars, later identified with neutron stars. /nIn 1974, Anthony Hewish and Sir Martin Ryle were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics with Hewish honoured for the discovery of pulsars. It is argued that Bell should have received or at least shared in the Prize. /nThis photograph is from the Daily Herald Archive, a collection of over three million photographs. The archive holds work of international, national and local importance by both staff and agency photographers. (Photo by Daily Herald Archive/National Science & Media Museum/SSPL via Getty Images)

(Daily Herald Archive/Getty Images)

For today's space history flashback, we're going back in time to 1968, when Jocelyn Bell - then an astronomy grad student - made a stunning discovery: the first known pulsar. See how she did it here.

Watch the video