iPhone screenshot of the CO2 Modeller climate model app developed by the University of Southampton. Credit: University of Southampton Enlarge Scientists and computer engineers at the University of Southampton have developed an interactive climate app – CO2 Modeller – which can fit in your pocket and help you to gauge […]
This illustration shows a star behind a shattered comet. Observations of the star KIC 8462852 by NASA’s Kepler and Spitzer space telescopes suggest that its unusual light signals are likely from dusty comet fragments, which blocked the light of the star as they passed in front of it in 2011 […]
Black pearls are seen in this undated photo. (ChameleonsEye / shutterstock.com) The black pearl of Tahiti is at the heart of French Polynesia’s economy but is now highly vulnerable to climate change, and its fragile existence underlines – in a small but exquisite way – what is at stake in […]
One of the key technologies that could help wean the globe off fossil fuel is probably at your fingertips or in your pocket right now: the battery. WASHINGTON — One of the key technologies that could help wean the globe off fossil fuel is probably at your fingertips or in […]
Albert Einstein at the blackboard. Credit: NASA Name the smartest person ever. Chances are high that the name Albert Einstein popped into your head. For the past century, Einstein has endured as a public symbol of intelligence and inspiration. Now, on the 100th anniversary of what is arguably Einstein’s greatest accomplishment […]
Nope, a flag is not enough to make the moon a colony. Credit: NASA/wikimedia An event of cosmic proportions occurred on November 18 when the US congress passed the Space Act of 2015 into law. The legislation will give US space firms the rights to own and sell natural resources […]
The light shining through an exoplanet’s atmosphere can give us a hint of whether the planet supports life. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI) Enlarge How do you go about hunting for life on another planet elsewhere in our galaxy? A useful starting point is to imagine looking from […]
Enlarge * The star VY Canis Majoris is a red hypergiant, one of the largest known stars in the Milky Way. It is 30-40 times the mass of the Sun and 300 000 times more luminous. In its current state, the star would encompass the orbit of Jupiter, having expanded tremendously […]
Workers wear protective clothing while cleaning up an oil spill near Fort McMurray, Alta., in this file photo from Wednesday, July 22, 2015. (Jeff McIntosh/THE CANADIAN PRESS) CALGARY – A report by the Royal Society of Canada says there are major research gaps when it comes to understanding the environmental […]
In the Italian countryside, not far from Pisa, a vast experiment is about to be switched on. If it’s a success, one of Albert Einstein’s greatest predictions will have been directly observed for the first time. If it fails, laws of physics might have to be reconsidered. The experiment is […]