There is a moment, astronauts say, when something inside them quietly rearranges itself.
It usually happens a few minutes after launch, once the rocket’s noise has faded and the window fills with the curve of the Earth. Suddenly, home is not a country, a city, or a garden. It is a single, luminous sphere, wrapped in a paper-thin atmosphere, hanging in absolute silence and absolute dark. There are no borders up there. No visible flags. Just one shared, to us fragile planet.
Scientists and philosophers have a name for this experience: the Overview effect.
A few days ago, there was a new team at ISSI. With 21 members, it was a rather large one — yet everything felt familiar. There was excitement about being away from everyday routines, animated conversations over free mugs and stickers, and a buzz of anticipation in the air. But this time, there was a first: ISSI was welcoming a local class of ten-year-olds, attending the fourth year of Swiss primary school.
In her engaging TEDxVitosha presentation, Dr. Rosita Kokotanekova, Planetary Science Discipline Scientist at ISSI, poses a compelling question: Could we catch a comet before it hits Earth? She frames this not as science fiction, but as a bold, plausible scientific mission with transformative potential.
🚀🎓 Big cheers and cosmic congratulations to our former Intern Joana C. Carvalho for graduating from Università di Trento with a post-grad in Science Communication! 🌍🪐✨
The world of astronomy assembled in South Africa🇿🇦, for the first time.
ISSI was there, too.
