- Who does Universe Today?
- Are you hiring?
- Do you accept freelance articles?
- Where do you find out about your news?
- How come the website hasn't been updated today?
- Can I "borrow" your material for my newsletter or website?
- Where do I find space/astronomy pictures?
- Want to see my [warp drive design/UFO photo/theory for an alternative energy source]?
- Do you believe in UFOs?
- Did we actually land on the moon?
- Can you do my homework for me?
- Can you send me educational material by mail?
If there's anything you think should be added to this FAQ, please drop me an email at info@universetoday.com and I'll write something up.
Who does Universe Today?
Universe Today is produced by me, Fraser Cain. That's it. I search out the stories, write the newsbriefs, process the photographs, code the HTML, send out the newsletter, and occasionally bumble my way through some of the more technical aspects. All in all, maintaining this website takes me about 2 hours to maintain every weekday, so it's not too huge a commitment.
There are a few freelance writers (for example, Jennifer Laing and Mark Perew) who contribute news stories, and I sometimes print photographs sent in by readers.
Sometimes my lovely wife edits my work, improving it greatly.
Are you hiring?
That's kind of a strange question, but the answer is both yes, and no. I don't actually have employees here in my home in Courtenay, BC, but I do hire freelance writers from around the world. So, if you're a writer and want to pitch articles my way, please send me an email.
Other than freelance writers, I have no other employees, and can't really see myself needing to hire anyone in the near future.
Do you accept freelance articles?
I'm happy to report that I do indeed accept freelance articles, and I even pay money for them. Wow! I'm specifically looking for breaking news in space and astronomy, or investigative pieces which haven't been covered by any other online media.
Send me an email and pitch your story idea. If it fits my criteria, I'll give you the greenlight to go ahead with the article.
Although I do pay, I don't pay well. :-) So you'll be writing to fill up your portfolio - each issue is read by more than 30,000 people. I also get requests from other publications for experienced writers, so I can pass your name along.
Where do you find out about your news?
I've got a list of space-related news websites that I normally troll to see what's breaking. I then track back to the original source to find the full story.
So, here's a list of all my original sources. This is just a partial list, though. Often a story appears out of left-field, and I have to source it back from there:
And here's a list of all the space news sites that I visit:
There you go, now you know everything I do.
How come the website hasn't been updated today?
Universe Today is supposed to be updated every weekday, but not on weekends. Some days I'm just to busy to get to it, so I skip a day. I'll still report the same news, so you won't miss anything, you just might not get it every single day. Sorry. :-(
Can I "borrow" your material for my newsletter or website?
Absolutely. Feel free to use any material you find in Universe Today for anything you like. Repurpose it into a newsletter, graft it into your website, or email it to your friends. All I ask is that you mention that you got the information from Universe Today. Provide a link to my website if you can. You don't even have to ask me for permission; go crazy. This permission only applies to material on Universe Today, not any material that I link to. That belongs to them, so ask their permission if you want to use it.
If you want to include Universe Today news into your own website without a lot of work, check out my syndicated news service. It only takes 5 minutes, and bam!... free news, as fresh as Universe Today.
Where do I find space/astronomy pictures?
If you're looking for space-related images, there are a couple of great places to look on the Internet. For all the classic photos from the Hubble Space Telescope, look here. For pictures of the space shuttle, try here. And here's a list of all NASA's image catalogues. And you also should take a look at the Astronomy Picture of the Day.
Be careful to understand the copyright and licensing arrangements for any photograph that you intend to use. You can use NASA images for any purpose whatsoever (read their license agreement first), but individual companies have their own special requirements. Respect their wishes before using their images. Often, you can just send an email asking for permission, and you'll get it.
Want to see my [warp drive design/UFO photo/theory for an alternative energy source]?
Uh... sure. Keep in mind, though, that I'm probably not going to write an article about it. Not that I don't think your ideas are good ones, it's just that I like to see things run through the scientific community first. I'm generally pretty skeptical about anything sent to me.
Do you believe in UFOs?
No. In fact, I'm unconvinced that there's any life in the universe at all. I'm totally open to the possibility, and I encourage searching for it, but I'm not going to count on it. I'm an advocate for space exploration to make sure we can get our collective human eggs out of this Earthly basket. If we trust that there's probably life in the universe, we aren't going to work so hard to find out for sure.
Did we actually land on the moon?
Short answer... yes.
Long answer... still yes, but read this detailed debunk of the conspiracy theory at Bad Astronomy.
Can you do my homework for me?
I don't get this exact question, but that's the gist. It seems so simple: send along your latest homework question to Fraser - he won't see through the ruse, answer the question and send you a comprehensive answer back. Then you just hand it in and get an "A". Well, I can smell these coming from a mile away - and so can your teachers, I suspect.
I'll give you a hand, but you've still got to do the work. I'll point you in the direction of a few sites that can offer some insights; I won't answer your homework questions, though. Sorry.
Can you send me educational material by mail?
Everything I have is entirely composed of electrons. I can email you links to websites, photographs, etc., but I have nothing to mail. If you're looking for space education material, I recommend you check out NASA's Education Programs website. They're generally very helpful.
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