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The best new science fiction books of December 2025
The best new science fiction books of December 2025
Mark Elder: Building the Future of Spacewalking for Artemis and Beyond
For more than 25 years, Mark Elder has helped make human spaceflight safe and possible. As the International Space Station EVA hardware manager in the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Office within the EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program, he leads the team responsible for the spacesuits, tools, and logistics that keep astronauts protected during spacewalks—and ensures NASA is ready for the next era of Artemis exploration.
Mark Elder with NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit at Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Bill Stafford
His team is programmatically responsible for the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU, spacesuit. That means every bolt, bearing, and battery astronauts rely on outside the International Space Station ultimately falls under their watch. He also oversees the EVA Space Operations Contract, which provides engineering and technical support to keep spacesuit systems flight ready.
Elder’s work directly supports every EVA, or spacewalk, conducted at the station. His team coordinates with astronauts, engineers, and the Mission Control Center in Houston to make sure the suits and tools operate reliably in the most unforgiving environment imaginable. Their work helps ensure every EVA is conducted safely and successfully.
Elder’s passion for NASA began at an early age.
“When I was little, my parents gave me a book called ‘The Astronauts,’” he said. “It had drawings of a reusable spacecraft—the space shuttle—and I fell in love with it. From then on, I told everyone I was going to work at NASA.”
That dream took off at age 16, when he attended Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama. “That cemented my dream of someday working at NASA, and it taught me a little bit more about the different roles within the agency,” he said.
While attending Case Western Reserve University as a mechanical engineering student, he learned about a new NASA program that allowed college students to design and build an experiment and then come to Johnson Space Center for a week to fly with their experiment on the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. “I jumped on the chance to be part of the team,” he said. “The experience further cemented my dream of working at NASA one day—Johnson in particular.”
After graduation, Elder worked with Pratt & Whitney on jet engines. While the experience was invaluable, he knew his heart belonged in human spaceflight. “I learned that one of Pratt’s fellow companies under the United Technologies umbrella was Hamilton Sundstrand, which was the prime contractor for the spacesuit,” he said. “I jumped at the chance to transfer, and my career at NASA finally began.”
Elder spent his first three years at Johnson performing tool-to-tool fit checks on spacewalking equipment, giving him hands-on experience with nearly every tool that he would eventually become responsible for as a hardware manager.
Mark Elder stands in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis before the STS-117 launch on June 8, 2007.
His early years coincided with the shuttle return-to-flight era, when he worked on reinforced carbon-carbon panel repairs and thermal protection systems. Those experiences built his technical foundation and prepared him for the leadership roles to come.
Over time, Elder took on increasingly complex assignments, eventually leading the team that developed the EVA Long Life Battery—the first human-rated lithium battery used in space. His team created a rigorous test plan to certify the battery for human spaceflight at a time when lithium batteries were under scrutiny for safety concerns.
“Finally signing the certification paperwork was satisfying, but watching an EVA powered by the batteries provided a great sense of pride,” he said.
This innovation set the stage for future generations of even safer, higher-capacity batteries that power today’s spacewalking operations and will eventually support lunar surface activities.
Looking back, Elder said some of his greatest lessons came from learning how to lead with purpose. “The great thing about NASA is the highly motivated and dedicated workforce,” he said. “When I first became a team lead, I thought success meant making quick decisions and moving fast. I learned that leadership is really about listening. Strong teams are built on trust and open communication.”
Another defining lesson, he said, has been learning to assume positive intent. “In a place like NASA, everyone is deeply passionate about what they do,” he said. “It’s easy to misinterpret a disagreement as opposition, but when you remember that everyone is working toward the same goal, the conversation changes. You focus on solving problems, not winning arguments.”
That mindset has guided Elder through some of NASA’s most complex programs and helped him build lasting partnerships across the agency.
Mark Elder receives an award at the 2024 Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Stellar Awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston. NASA/Josh Valcarcel
Today, Elder’s work extends beyond the orbiting laboratory. As NASA prepares for Artemis missions to the Moon, his team’s experience maintaining and improving the EMU informs the design of next-generation exploration suits.
“The foundation we’ve built on the space station is critical for the future,” he said. “Every tool we’ve refined, every system we’ve upgraded—it all feeds into how we’ll operate on the lunar surface and eventually on Mars.”
Elder believes that the key to future success lies in perseverance. He advises the next generation to never stop dreaming. “My path wasn’t direct, and it would have been easy for me to give up,” he said. “But dreams have a way of guiding you if you don’t let go of them.”
When he’s not supporting those missions, Elder’s creativity takes shape in his workshop. “In my spare time, I love woodworking,” he said. “Building something useful from a pile of rough-sawn boards helps calm me and gives me a great sense of accomplishment. I love being able to build furniture for my family,” he added, after recently finishing a desk for his youngest son.
The same patience and precision he brings to woodworking defines his approach to exploration—steady progress, careful craftmanship, and attention to detail. “As NASA goes to the Moon and Mars, there will be challenges,” Elder said. “As long as we keep dreaming, we will see the next generation walking on the Moon and heading to Mars.”
Explore More 8 min read Sugars, ‘Gum,’ Stardust Found in NASA’s Asteroid Bennu Samples Article 23 hours ago 6 min read The International Space Station Marks 25 Years of Continuous Human Presence Article 1 day ago 5 min read NASA’s 2025 Astronaut Candidates: Shaping Artemis Exploration Article 1 week agoMark Elder: Building the Future of Spacewalking for Artemis and Beyond
For more than 25 years, Mark Elder has helped make human spaceflight safe and possible. As the International Space Station EVA hardware manager in the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Office within the EVA and Human Surface Mobility Program, he leads the team responsible for the spacesuits, tools, and logistics that keep astronauts protected during spacewalks—and ensures NASA is ready for the next era of Artemis exploration.
Mark Elder with NASA’s Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) spacesuit at Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA/Bill StaffordHis team is programmatically responsible for the Extravehicular Mobility Unit, or EMU, spacesuit. That means every bolt, bearing, and battery astronauts rely on outside the International Space Station ultimately falls under their watch. He also oversees the EVA Space Operations Contract, which provides engineering and technical support to keep spacesuit systems flight ready.
Elder’s work directly supports every EVA, or spacewalk, conducted at the station. His team coordinates with astronauts, engineers, and the Mission Control Center in Houston to make sure the suits and tools operate reliably in the most unforgiving environment imaginable. Their work helps ensure every EVA is conducted safely and successfully.
Elder’s passion for NASA began at an early age.
“When I was little, my parents gave me a book called ‘The Astronauts,’” he said. “It had drawings of a reusable spacecraft—the space shuttle—and I fell in love with it. From then on, I told everyone I was going to work at NASA.”
That dream took off at age 16, when he attended Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama. “That cemented my dream of someday working at NASA, and it taught me a little bit more about the different roles within the agency,” he said.
While attending Case Western Reserve University as a mechanical engineering student, he learned about a new NASA program that allowed college students to design and build an experiment and then come to Johnson Space Center for a week to fly with their experiment on the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. “I jumped on the chance to be part of the team,” he said. “The experience further cemented my dream of working at NASA one day—Johnson in particular.”
After graduation, Elder worked with Pratt & Whitney on jet engines. While the experience was invaluable, he knew his heart belonged in human spaceflight. “I learned that one of Pratt’s fellow companies under the United Technologies umbrella was Hamilton Sundstrand, which was the prime contractor for the spacesuit,” he said. “I jumped at the chance to transfer, and my career at NASA finally began.”
Elder spent his first three years at Johnson performing tool-to-tool fit checks on spacewalking equipment, giving him hands-on experience with nearly every tool that he would eventually become responsible for as a hardware manager.
Mark Elder stands in front of the Space Shuttle Atlantis before the STS-117 launch on June 8, 2007.His early years coincided with the shuttle return-to-flight era, when he worked on reinforced carbon-carbon panel repairs and thermal protection systems. Those experiences built his technical foundation and prepared him for the leadership roles to come.
Over time, Elder took on increasingly complex assignments, eventually leading the team that developed the EVA Long Life Battery—the first human-rated lithium battery used in space. His team created a rigorous test plan to certify the battery for human spaceflight at a time when lithium batteries were under scrutiny for safety concerns.
“Finally signing the certification paperwork was satisfying, but watching an EVA powered by the batteries provided a great sense of pride,” he said.
This innovation set the stage for future generations of even safer, higher-capacity batteries that power today’s spacewalking operations and will eventually support lunar surface activities.
Looking back, Elder said some of his greatest lessons came from learning how to lead with purpose. “The great thing about NASA is the highly motivated and dedicated workforce,” he said. “When I first became a team lead, I thought success meant making quick decisions and moving fast. I learned that leadership is really about listening. Strong teams are built on trust and open communication.”
Another defining lesson, he said, has been learning to assume positive intent. “In a place like NASA, everyone is deeply passionate about what they do,” he said. “It’s easy to misinterpret a disagreement as opposition, but when you remember that everyone is working toward the same goal, the conversation changes. You focus on solving problems, not winning arguments.”
That mindset has guided Elder through some of NASA’s most complex programs and helped him build lasting partnerships across the agency.
Mark Elder receives an award at the 2024 Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Stellar Awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Houston. NASA/Josh ValcarcelToday, Elder’s work extends beyond the orbiting laboratory. As NASA prepares for Artemis missions to the Moon, his team’s experience maintaining and improving the EMU informs the design of next-generation exploration suits.
“The foundation we’ve built on the space station is critical for the future,” he said. “Every tool we’ve refined, every system we’ve upgraded—it all feeds into how we’ll operate on the lunar surface and eventually on Mars.”
Elder believes that the key to future success lies in perseverance. He advises the next generation to never stop dreaming. “My path wasn’t direct, and it would have been easy for me to give up,” he said. “But dreams have a way of guiding you if you don’t let go of them.”
When he’s not supporting those missions, Elder’s creativity takes shape in his workshop. “In my spare time, I love woodworking,” he said. “Building something useful from a pile of rough-sawn boards helps calm me and gives me a great sense of accomplishment. I love being able to build furniture for my family,” he added, after recently finishing a desk for his youngest son.
The same patience and precision he brings to woodworking defines his approach to exploration—steady progress, careful craftmanship, and attention to detail. “As NASA goes to the Moon and Mars, there will be challenges,” Elder said. “As long as we keep dreaming, we will see the next generation walking on the Moon and heading to Mars.”
Explore More 8 min read Sugars, ‘Gum,’ Stardust Found in NASA’s Asteroid Bennu Samples Article 11 hours ago 6 min read The International Space Station Marks 25 Years of Continuous Human Presence Article 14 hours ago 5 min read NASA’s 2025 Astronaut Candidates: Shaping Artemis Exploration Article 1 week agoWas a little-known culture in Bronze Age Turkey a major power?
Was a little-known culture in Bronze Age Turkey a major power?
The new Discovery and Preparation podcast showcases innovation for space
ESA Discovery and Preparation has launched a new podcast series highlighting the innovative space technologies being developed through its activities.
December Podcast: Find the “Demon Star”
During December you can watch for some impressive shooting stars and spend some time with the “Demon Star,” which can’t decide how bright it wants to be. Bundle up, grab your curiosity, and head outdoors for this month’s fun and informative Sky Tour.
The post December Podcast: Find the “Demon Star” appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
#772: Gift Guide
It’s time once again for our annual gift-giving guide. We’ve got recommendations for books, movies, TV shows, games, and of course astronomy gear to satisfy the space nerds in your family. The Christmas season is almost upon us, and with it comes excuses to inject science into the lives of those you love… or ask for them to give you that book, lens, or art print you already know you’ll love. In this episode, Fraser and Pamela share the things they think would make good gifts for nerds like us.
Show Notes Astronomy & Science-Themed Gift Ideas- Recommended starter gift: astronomy binoculars (10×70 or 15×75, anti-reflective).
- First telescope suggestion: 6-inch Dobsonian for ease of use.
- Affordable smart telescope: Seestar S50 for easy astrophotography.
- C-Star telescopes for imaging nebulae in light-polluted areas.
- Gift cards for remote observatories in cloudy regions.
- Binoculars as foundational astronomy equipment.
- Smart telescopes for beginners wanting astrophotography.
- Book pick: “The Planets” by Andrew Cohen & Brian Cox (Folio Society).
- Value of physical books and media for inspiration.
- Magazine subscriptions: National Geographic, Scientific American, Sky & Telescope.
- Gift Patreon subscriptions for ad-free content (e.g., Universe Today).
- Encourage buying from small retailers (Peak Design, B&H Photo, Seestar).
- Importance of supporting journalists and content creators.
- Steam Deck gaming: recommended stand and 8-Bit Do controllers.
- Discussion of physical gaming and ergonomic setups.
- Lego sets (galaxies, Star Trek Enterprise) and preserving sets.
- Favorite board games: Sushi Go, Exploding Kittens.
- Magic: The Gathering deck themes (dinosaurs, meteors/lightning, space).
- MTG Arena as a digital way to play.
- TV series: Scavenger’s Reign.
- Movies: Mars Express (French animated sci-fi).
- Anime: Delicious in Dungeon, I May Be a Guild Receptionist…
- Book series: Dungeon Crawler Carl (isekai RPG sci-fi).
- Items from local game stores: squishables, Funko Pops, collectibles.
Fraser Cain:
Astronomy Cast, Episode 772 – Our 2025 Gift Guide. Welcome to Astronomy Cast, our weekly, facts-based journey through the cosmos, where we help you understand not only what we know, but how we know what we know. I’m Fraser Cain, I’m the publisher of Universe Today.
With me, as always, is Dr. Pamela Gay, a Senior Scientist for the Planetary Science Institute and the Director of CosmoQuest. Hey Pamela, how are you doing?
Dr. Pamela Gay:
I don’t know.
Fraser Cain:
We don’t know.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yeah, we’re recording this.
Fraser Cain:
Who knows how we’re doing? Totally, yeah. So in the moment, I’ve been recording a lot today, and I can hear my voice starting to go.
So I’m a little raspy now, but…
Dr. Pamela Gay:
I can feel my brain starting to go, so…
Fraser Cain:
Trade? Yeah. So I think this is…
I did finish off the Patrons question show that I do every month, so that was a couple of hours, and then we’ve already recorded another episode, and I’m going to do this one, and then I’m going to go… Anyway.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yeah.
Fraser Cain:
A lot of using my voice in the last couple of days, and it’s definitely feeling like it’s had enough. But that’s okay, because I will be on vacation-ish, and let my voice rest.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
You just get to sit on an airplane tomorrow, and yeah, you just get to be quiet for, what, 28 hours?
Fraser Cain:
Something like that. Yeah, it’s ridiculous.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
I forget.
Fraser Cain:
Carla was saying we’ve got like 24 hours of… 22 hours of flight time?
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yeah, something like that. It’s going to be bonkers. Yeah.
Fraser Cain:
It’s time once again for our annual gift-giving guide. We’ve got recommendations for books, movies, TV shows, games, and of course, astronomy gear to satisfy the space nerds in your family. All right, so let’s just start with the…
I mean, this is the advice that we give every year, but I think I’ve got some more nuanced take on it now, but let’s give that bedrock, it’s time to buy your family members some kind of sky-watching gear.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yes. So, bedrock is an update from last year. I’m going to recommend B&H Photo as the company that is my new go-to for optics.
Buy the biggest pair of binoculars you can hold steady with your hands, because yes, you can put them on a tripod, no, you aren’t going to want to. You’re going to want to grab them, mine are hanging on a strap off of a doorknob. You’re going to want to grab them, step outside and go, can I see that comet, or whatever it is that you’re trying to see.
So buy the biggest, I like 10 by 70s, I own a pair of Celestrons, there’s excellent by many different companies, get ones that have a coating on the front, an anti-reflective that causes more photons to go through the lens than to get reflected off the lens, binoculars.
Fraser Cain:
And so it’s the one that I have, I have the 15 by 75 by Celestron, I was sort of checking the prices and they’re in the $100, $150, $200 range, and just bang for your buck. That if you want to get somebody just something that’s going to completely level up their astronomy experience, those binoculars. And I think both of us have owned our astronomy binoculars now for almost the entire time that we’ve been doing this show, and mine get used almost every day.
So I’m using them to look at birds, I’m using them to look at stuff in the sky, and you can see the moons of Jupiter, you can see the rings of Saturn, you can see the craters on the moon, you can see the individual stars in the Milky Way, you can see the galaxy in Andromeda. If you know where you’re looking, you know where to point them, then globular clusters, the Orion Nebula, it’s comets, it’s all available to you.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
And then there’s also the, what is that bird in the tree? It’s much harder to do that with a telescope. So I…
Fraser Cain:
Yeah, they’re just fast and easy to use.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yeah, exactly.
Fraser Cain:
And so if you don’t have binoculars, that should be the foundation of your astronomy kit. So I’ve gone down the telescope journey quite a bit this year, and I think, yeah, I’ve got four of them behind me right now. But I think our original recommendation was the Dobsonian as your good first starter telescope for people.
And an eight inch is going to cost you quite a bit. It’s probably closing in on $1,000 or $800. But a six inch is…
Dr. Pamela Gay:
It’s totally easy to pick up and easy to use.
Fraser Cain:
Easy to pick up, easy to use.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
And that’s still… Stick it on a table.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah. A very big telescope. So if you want a first telescope, that’s the one that we recommend.
And then we used to recommend that you would then start to consider the more automated telescopes. Think about the Celestron, like an eight inch Schmidt-Cast grain or LX200 or something like that. And now my recommendation is to go the smart telescopes route.
And I highly recommend the Seastar S50, which is this great little… It’s the bigger one. It’s the bigger one, but it’s still relatively inexpensive.
They’re about $600. And take phenomenal pictures of the sky. And they’re super easy to use.
And there’s a lot of features in the telescope that I really like. Better than more expensive telescopes. And so that’s kind of affordable.
Like people are thinking about, oh, do I get my kid a PlayStation? Do I get a drone?
Dr. Pamela Gay:
No. You get one of these.
Fraser Cain:
Get a telescope.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
It looks like an overhead projector that crossbred with a portal gun. And what amazes me is Aviva, the woman who does our website, our updates, all the behind the scenes stuff for AstronomyCast. She’s in Bandung, Indonesia, which is a suburb of Jakarta, which is a mega city.
And Bandung is what in the United States would be one of the largest cities. It’s a massive light polluted city. And she’s taking nebula images with her C-Star.
And it’s just sort of like you no longer have to be afraid of light pollution the way we grew up being afraid of light pollution. These C-Stars are just doing magic as near as I can tell.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Even if you live in light polluted area, there are light pollution filters. And so they’re great. So that’s it.
And then there are the accoutrement books like Nightwatch, which we always recommend. There are apps that you can use to help you find around the night sky, but you kind of don’t need them with the C-Star. You just find the list of the things you want to look at and you punch them on your phone and away you go.
So hopefully over the next several years, if you’ve got the budget, you will be building up your astronomy nerds tech.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
If you live someplace where you’re like, I’m not worried about light pollution. It’s simply always rains here. There’s Star Front Observatories and they are putting together a gift card system so that you can either buy a gift card to give to somebody or buy somebody a gift certificate to buy somebody.
I don’t make money from Star Front Observatories. I just think they are super cool and I use their telescopes now and then. So there’s now this way that you can get access to a C-Star in dark skies and just log into it on your computer.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah. Yeah. And like monthly pay at a monthly rate.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yeah. It’s they’re looking at a Netflix for telescopes kind of model.
Fraser Cain:
Exactly. Okay. So we got the telescope recommendations out of the way.
So let’s move on to other stuff that we think is important. So pick a category that you think is relevant now.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
So this part of the show is also me for anyone in my life who happens to also listen to this show and can like point my husband at things. I found a website, foliosociety.com, and they have a book called The Planets by Andrew Cohen and Brian Cox that is nothing but pretties, page after page after page of pretties. They have all sorts of other books as well.
And I really think that sometimes it just makes sense to say, I want to influence the people in my life by handing them something that is paper, that they’re going to feel encouraged to just randomly open to a different page and see what is there and be swept away by how amazing our universe is. So Folio Society, Megan Watsky and Kim Arcade, Kim Conwell Arcade have an entire collection of super pretty, pretty books. David Dickinson put together, along with you, I contributed randomness, put together a book a number of years ago on how to take your own pretty pictures.
Books are a way to change people’s lives in a way that doesn’t require them to poison their night vision the same way that a screen does. You can set one on your coffee table and people will flip through it. I mean, that’s why they’re called coffee table books.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah. You know, I was sort of not a fan of physical media for a while then, and I’m coming back around now and kind of regret the ditching of the physical media that I did and am starting to rebuild my collection, my library. And, you know, physical books are great, as you said, you know, sometimes you just want to pick up a book and you want to look through it.
You want to read it. You want to look at the pictures. And astronomy is one of those fields where there are new missions, new telescopes, new images coming out all the time, and they capture well.
Astronaut photography, there’s memoirs from astronauts, you know, there’s a bunch of those kinds of books that you can get your hands on. And so, you know, you made some recommendations. So I would definitely suggest like some nice physical book that has nice imagery from space, something you can sit front and center and use it as a talking point when, you know, people come by or just like sit and read.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
And I really think there’s a place for getting both older people who have spare time, so people who actually, I’ve heard of this mythological thing called retirement, I’m not quite sure what it is, and younger humans, so like high school, middle school, a subscription to a physical magazine, support publishing, National Geographic, Scientific American, Sky and Telescope is now part of the American Astronomical Society, but there I’d say Patreon with this guy, he’s over there, support the publishing industry and get physical subscriptions for people who have the time to just like sit and enjoy them. Because if you’re flipping through pages, you’re going to read articles you would never click on, on the landing page of a website. And Patreon now allows gift subscriptions.
So you can gift someone ad free forever on Universe Today, which has more media than any other astronomy site as near as I can tell.
Fraser Cain:
Mm hmm. Yeah, you can gift a year’s Patreon subscription to any patron. And so whatever the recipient is into, you can probably find a Patreon to support them.
And this is sort of another direction that I think is really important. We’re going to see this grow, is this direct support of journalism, of media creators, of the content that you enjoy. And it’s a way to give back, a way to make sure they can keep doing their job under all of the different threats that people are currently facing.
So someone in the chat is recommending you can buy a membership in the Planetary Society. So there’s like a whole bunch of these, and you can sort of give a person membership in something that is meaningful to them. Awesome.
I like that.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
And the Dungeons and Dragons community, it is not astronomy. I just need to say the Patreon Dungeons and Dragons community is without comparison.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah, there are map makers. There’s 3D miniature creators that you can download their designs and run them through your 3D printer. There’s adventure people who run, who design adventures and give all kinds of other support information for D&D.
Yeah, yeah. It’s pretty amazing how well supported the community is for role playing games.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
And so I think find these small companies or even, I mean, Scientific American, it’s not huge when you compare it to a tech company. We’re talking like dozens of people, not tens of thousands of people. Find the places you can support directly.
And so even for like accessories, I would say, don’t go to Amazon, go to like Peak Design. They’re the place I go to buy tripods. You could murder somebody with a Peak Design tripod or simply observe through a tornado.
Pick one. Probably observe through a tornado, but go inside, leave the camera outside. Peak Design, B&H Photo, it’s another smaller company, buy direct from Seastar.
Just go direct, remove the middleman, remove the loss of income to the companies, keep the creators, the companies you enjoy going through this weird future.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah. All right. So let’s talk about games.
So I want to talk about physical games and video games. I have been playing a lot of physical games recently. So video games still, my Steam Deck continues to be in heavy use.
It is my primary game machine. And I think if you’ve been following our recommendations for the last couple of years, we’ve recommended the Steam Deck. So you can also accessorize your Steam Deck, which is kind of cool.
I bought for my kids, I bought them the Steam Deck sort of stand. And so you sit on this little stand, you plug into the back of it, and then it gives you a bunch of expansion ports. So now you can hook up a bunch of controllers to it.
You can hook it up to your television. And now it acts like a game console, just as if you had an Xbox or a PlayStation, but it’s got your entire Steam library and it’s played on your TV. And then you can play like co-op games with it.
There’s a great set of controllers that come from a company called 8-Bit Do. And I’ve bought now two of their game controllers, and they’re just really nice, really great controllers. They’re not expensive and have much better gameplay than even like an Xbox controller or a PlayStation controller, and I highly recommend them.
So definitely check that out.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
And those are a whole lot more ergonomic. I know one of the things I run into, and I have just like a cheapy controller to go with my Steam Deck, the Steam Deck, it’s kind of hefty to just like lay in bed and use it. And so having one of these stands, I have one in my living room where I have monitor arms, like you can’t move in my house without finding some place to dock your computer.
And so having it there, it’s now computer on an arm, I’m in my recliner, I’m playing games. Lightweight control in your hands. Yeah, it’s super pleasing.
Yeah. And don’t forget while you’re looking at games, so there are the old school board games galore out there, and then there’s also other toys that allow you to think creatively. Lego last year came out with a galaxy set, like it’s a picture of a galaxy that you can sit and build.
It’s pricey, but it’s gorgeous.
Fraser Cain:
Did you see what they added this year? No. It’s the Enterprise from the next generation.
That’s amazing. It’s so cool. It’s like 3600 pieces, like I’m sure it’s going to cost a fortune, but it is the, what Enterprise D?
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so cool. So, yeah, it’s super tempting to, you know, again, a thing that I got rid of when I was a kid, all my space Lego and regretted, although I didn’t make that mistake again with my kids.
So we’ve got all of their Lego in storage and then we’ll be able to hand that off to their kids and hand that off to their kids. Like that stays within the family, like an endowment.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Except for the brown Legos. I don’t know what it is about brown Legos, but they have a half life and then they just crumble to bits.
Fraser Cain:
Oh, wow.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yeah. Beware of the brown Legos. Yes.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah. OK.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
All the others are fine, just not the brown ones.
Fraser Cain:
So so what are you playing in board game land?
Dr. Pamela Gay:
I’ve so not that much that space related. We’ve been playing Sushi Go. It’s this little tin that you get and and you’re grabbing different sushi bits trying to build up the best meal we’ve been playing.
Oh, man, I have a wall of games and trying to remember all the stuff on the wall. Sushi Go is one of our go to’s. We’ve also been playing Exploding Kittens.
It’s an old classic. It never goes away.
Fraser Cain:
And you’ve been playing a lot of Magic the Gathering recently.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
So much Magic the Gathering. And there’s actually a space related set that came out last month, Edge of Eternities. It has spacecraft.
It has space stations and it has lots of interesting, actually science related things. So one of the tasks on my to do list is I now have three different decks I need to build. One is dinosaurs.
The other is things like meteors, meteor crater, lightning, so I can kill the dinosaurs. Right. And now I also have the ability to build a space related deck and see if I can destroy goblins from space.
Fraser Cain:
That’s awesome.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Go to your local gaming store.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah, but but you wouldn’t you were like I’ve been out of the Magic the Gathering space for a little while. And you’re saying that now the Magic Arena, you can relatively inexpensively collect cards in the game, play against other people. It will sort your deck.
It will shuffle between games. You can play quickly and you can play for fun. You can play ranked games against other people.
And it’s sort of a nice way to stay on top of the hobby without actually physically buying the cards. Although there’s nothing like owning the physical deck and sitting down and playing with a person in an actual room. That’s the way the game was meant to be played.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
And this is where you can go find out when are they doing draft nights, things like that, where it’s not what you’ve collected. It’s paying an entry fee to get cards you can walk away with that everyone builds their own decks in real time.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Things like that. And another reason to go to your local game store is to just find out what is out there. Get introduced to the latest squishables, squishmallows, Funko Pops, all these different things that you can just insert joy into somebody’s life.
Last year, I found on a Funko Pop discount, like some of my friends’ favorite characters, I just got lucky. And who doesn’t love having a plague doctor in their life?
Fraser Cain:
So let’s talk about media.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yeah.
Fraser Cain:
And this is funny because, again, I’ve recently been recollecting media and I’ve got sort of a stack of Blu-rays behind me that I’ve picked up at garage sales and Value Village and various discount shops. And it’s kind of filling in all of the gaps. And I know that I’m going to get to a point where I’ve collected all of the common movies and the uncommon movies, kind of like collecting Pokemons.
But it is. And then for the rares, you got to buy them. You’re going to have to order them from the store.
So there’s a couple of shows that I’ve really enjoyed in the last year or so that I thought people should want to check out. And you can buy these on Amazon and other media places. So one is Scavenger’s Reign.
And have you seen this yet?
Dr. Pamela Gay:
I would know if you’d had.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah, you’d know if you had. So it’s it’s it’s animated. It’s about these people that are on this weird world.
And it’s the strange biology based.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
I’ve seen a few episodes that they go through. Yeah, I keep one of my friends watches it and I keep catching fragments of episodes at her house.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah, I think it’s it’s it’s in my top ten television shows ever. Oh, wow. And there’s a nice Blu-ray you can buy that just has the whole collection ready to go.
And they’re it’s highly worth watching. Another movie that came out that sort of surprised me how good it was, was a movie called Mars Express. And it’s and it’s a French animated movie and is sort of like Blade Runner meets.
Man, it’s kind of like Blade Runner, but but it’s about a private detective and her robot assistant and they chase bad guys to Mars and sort of really cool technology, very funny dialogue, very well written. I really enjoyed it. And it’s a movie.
But if you can get your hands on it, definitely check that out. And then I think sort of one of the more endearing shows that I watched in the last year is called Delicious in Dungeon, which is an anime about some it’s like a D&D anime where some adventurers are trying to go down into this dungeon and they are running out of food and they’re trying to rescue their friends. And they and so one of them wonders, well, could we just cook the monsters?
And and so they meet up with this dwarf who has been had the exact same question. And so now the main characters are all delving deeper and deeper into this dungeon, encountering all kinds of horrific monsters and cooking and eating them and and then sort of surviving as they make their way down into the dungeon. And I just love it.
It’s so cozy and so endearing. Yeah, I think you’ll really for people really enjoy it. I checked in and there is DVDs available of that.
I’m not sure sort of, you know, if they have the audio that you find on Netflix, but yeah. Yeah.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
So an anime, I I can’t even justify why I like it as much as I do. It’s just ridiculous is I may be a guild receptionist, but I’ll solo any boss to clock out on time. And it is the typical that’s the name of the anime.
Uh huh. The entire name is I may be a guild receptionist, but I’ll solo any boss to clock out on time. And it is literally the story of a a timeline where dungeons have opened up all over the place and they have adventurers that have to get licenses before they go down to take on the different bosses.
And this this girl works at the Adventurers Guild and she’s going home one day lamenting all of the overtime she has to do. And as the result of the needful prayer she puts out, she gets superpowers and now she just solo kills bosses. And it’s it’s just silly and sweet.
Yeah.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
And it has a ridiculous name.
Fraser Cain:
So one books, I want to just briefly mention some books. Yeah. And I haven’t been reading a ton of books that are kind of new and interesting.
But the one series that I read and really gobbled down was the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. So there’s like seven books and I just speed ran through all of them on the recommendation of my son. And they’re just terrific.
And so if you want to give somebody, you know, like if you enjoy light, entertaining reading, think about, you know, We Are Legion, We Are Bob. Think about The Martian. Think about Project Hail Mary in that sort of zone.
Then Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
It’s an isekai, just to be clear. It’s an isekai.
Fraser Cain:
A role playing game fiction.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Yeah. But it’s not like the ones where it’s someone suddenly ends up only them in a different timeline. It’s the entire planet Earth becomes part of a game show.
And there are some lines in it that just stay with you. So the main character has a quote that is basically, they will not break me. They may hurt me.
They may kill me. They will not break me. And just that concept is especially in this timeline.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah. Yeah. It’s a great it’s a great series.
You know, electronically, audiobooks, physical books, some of the best the narrator they heard.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Oh, my God. He’s the best. I thought it was a full cast recording.
It is not.
Fraser Cain:
Yeah. Yeah. Awesome.
Do you have any more final gift recommendations? Or are we all out?
Dr. Pamela Gay:
I think that’s it.
Fraser Cain:
Get people’s physical media, buy things from the creators and support the support, the fandom of the person that you’re buying for, which is going to require a little investigative work on your part. So if there was like a patron that you wanted to join, who would it be?
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Exactly. Son. Yeah, that kind of thing.
Yeah.
Fraser Cain:
Dad. You know, who would you want to support? Yeah.
Awesome. All right. Well, I hope everybody has a great holiday.
Please let us know if you have any additional recommendations or if you’ve taken action on any of our recommendations. We are not funded. We’re not advertising.
We receive no sponsorship from any of the things we talked about here.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
So go forth, be awesome. And thank you to our patrons. We thank the $10 and up patrons at the end of every episode.
And today we would like to thank, and this is where Rich inserts the audio. This show is made possible by our community on patreon.com slash astronomy cast. This week, we’d like to thank the following $10 and up patrons.
Alan grass, Andrew Allen, and to soar Aster sets, Benjamin carrier, Bob Krell, Brian breed, buzz Parsec, Conrad Howling, Daniel Schecter, David green, Dr. Whoa. Ed Fairchild. Just as it sounds.
Frederick Salvo, Jeff McDonald gold, Gregory Singleton, Jay, Alex Anderson, Jason Kwong, Jeremy Kerwin, J O John Herman, Jordan Turner, Kate Sindretto, Kim Barron, Lab Rat Matt, Les Howard, Mark, Masa Herleu, MHW1961, Super Symmetrical, Michael Regan, Nyla, Noah Albertson, Paula Sposito, Peter, Red Bar Is Watching, Robert Plasma, Sachi Takeba, Scone, Sergey Manalov, Stephen Rutley, T.C. Starboy, Thomas Gazzetta, Travis C. Porco, Vitaly, William Andrews. Thank you all so very much.
Fraser Cain:
All right. That’s great. Thanks, Pamela.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Thank you.
Fraser Cain:
See you next week.
Dr. Pamela Gay:
Bye-bye.
Live ShowA Glimpse of History in Benin City
In some ways, Benin City is like dozens of other fast-growing cities in Nigeria. Buoyed by burgeoning industrial and agricultural sectors, the city’s population rose by 1.7 million people over the past four decades as its footprint on the West African landscape expanded several times over.
Amid bustling new networks of roads, residential neighborhoods, markets, and workshops, lie signs of a much earlier era, when the city was the seat of a powerful pre-colonial kingdom. Remnants of ancient earthworks, thought to be among the longest in the world, can even be seen in images of the city captured from space.
Benin Iya (sometimes called the Benin Earthworks, the Walls of Benin, and the Benin Moat) is a vast, cellular network of interlocking earthen walls, ramparts, and ditches that radiate outward from a central moat at the heart of the city. Built in sections over hundreds of years between the 7th and 14th centuries, the system was key to marking defensive, political, and economic boundaries and played an important role in maintaining order and stability in the Kingdom of Benin.
The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured this image of the remains of earthworks on January 11, 2025. The features appear as dark green lines that trace arcing patterns in a densely settled area near the airport on the west bank of the Ikpoba River. Trees and vegetation growing in the moats give the features a dark green color.
Most of the earthworks consisted of relatively narrow and shallow linear ramparts and ditches that spread widely across the landscape. Many sections have been destroyed or are too small or too obscured by modern development to be easily detected by satellites or astronauts in orbit. However, some inner sections that run through the modern Oredo, Egor, and Ikpoba-Okha areas of the city had true walls and moats and are among the most visible in Landsat imagery.
Archaeological research indicates that the earthworks spanned more than 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) and enclosed roughly 6,500 square kilometers (2,500 square miles)—an area as large as the U.S. state of Delaware. Such length means the features hold the Guinness World Record for being the “longest earthworks of the pre-mechanical era.” By some measures, the features were together significantly longer than the Great Wall of China.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.
References & Resources- Guinness World Records Longest earthworks of the pre-mechanical era. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- The Met (2025, May 31) Benin City Earthworks and Urban Planning, Nigeria. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- MOWAA The Benin Iya Survey. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- MOWAA Benin City’s Moat (Iya) System. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- Onwuanyi, N. et al. (2021) The Benin City Moat System: Functional Space or Urban Void? African Journal of Environmental Research, 3(1), 21-39.
- Schepers, C. et al. (2025) Current Condition of the Iya in Benin City, the Gates and Future Preservation Strategies. African Archaeological Review, 42, 519-537.
- UNESCO (1995) Benin Iya / Sungbo’s Eredo. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- World Monuments Fund (2025) Benin City Earthworks. Accessed November 25, 2025.
JPEG (5.09 MB)
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A Glimpse of History in Benin City
In some ways, Benin City is like dozens of other fast-growing cities in Nigeria. Buoyed by burgeoning industrial and agricultural sectors, the city’s population rose by 1.7 million people over the past four decades as its footprint on the West African landscape expanded several times over.
Amid bustling new networks of roads, residential neighborhoods, markets, and workshops, lie signs of a much earlier era, when the city was the seat of a powerful pre-colonial kingdom. Remnants of ancient earthworks, thought to be among the longest in the world, can even be seen in images of the city captured from space.
Benin Iya (sometimes called the Benin Earthworks, the Walls of Benin, and the Benin Moat) is a vast, cellular network of interlocking earthen walls, ramparts, and ditches that radiate outward from a central moat at the heart of the city. Built in sections over hundreds of years between the 7th and 14th centuries, the system was key to marking defensive, political, and economic boundaries and played an important role in maintaining order and stability in the Kingdom of Benin.
The OLI-2 (Operational Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9 captured this image of the remains of earthworks on January 11, 2025. The features appear as dark green lines that trace arcing patterns in a densely settled area near the airport on the west bank of the Ikpoba River. Trees and vegetation growing in the moats give the features a dark green color.
Most of the earthworks consisted of relatively narrow and shallow linear ramparts and ditches that spread widely across the landscape. Many sections have been destroyed or are too small or too obscured by modern development to be easily detected by satellites or astronauts in orbit. However, some inner sections that run through the modern Oredo, Egor, and Ikpoba-Okha areas of the city had true walls and moats and are among the most visible in Landsat imagery.
Archaeological research indicates that the earthworks spanned more than 16,000 kilometers (10,000 miles) and enclosed roughly 6,500 square kilometers (2,500 square miles)—an area as large as the U.S. state of Delaware. Such length means the features hold the Guinness World Record for being the “longest earthworks of the pre-mechanical era.” By some measures, the features were together significantly longer than the Great Wall of China.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Adam Voiland.
References & Resources- Guinness World Records Longest earthworks of the pre-mechanical era. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- The Met (2025, May 31) Benin City Earthworks and Urban Planning, Nigeria. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- MOWAA The Benin Iya Survey. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- MOWAA Benin City’s Moat (Iya) System. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- Onwuanyi, N. et al. (2021) The Benin City Moat System: Functional Space or Urban Void? African Journal of Environmental Research, 3(1), 21-39.
- Schepers, C. et al. (2025) Current Condition of the Iya in Benin City, the Gates and Future Preservation Strategies. African Archaeological Review, 42, 519-537.
- UNESCO (1995) Benin Iya / Sungbo’s Eredo. Accessed November 25, 2025.
- World Monuments Fund (2025) Benin City Earthworks. Accessed November 25, 2025.
JPEG (5.09 MB)
You may also be interested in:
Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.
Breaking New Ground in Mekele
5 min read
Researchers are using satellites to study development patterns in this fast-growing city in Ethiopia.
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2 min read
The Santarem plateau in the northern Brazilian state displays a patchwork of cleared and uncleared land bordering a densely forested…
ArticleThe First Labor Day Parade
3 min read
New York City’s Manhattan Island was the site of the nation’s first Labor Day parade on September 5, 1882.
Article1
2
3
4
Next
Keep Exploring Discover More from NASA Earth Science Subscribe to Earth Observatory Newsletters
Subscribe to the Earth Observatory and get the Earth in your inbox.
Earth Observatory Image of the Day
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