Beyond the cloud - With molecular data storage, cat videos could outlast us all
Europe is Working On a Reusable Space Transport System: Space Rider
The ESA is developing its own spacecraft capable of re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. The reusable spacecraft is called the Space RIDER (Reusable Integrated Demonstrator for Europe Return), and the ESA says that the Space Rider will be ready for launch by 2022. It’s being designed to launch on the Vega-C rocket from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Man’s stressed friend: how your mental health can affect your dog
World Oceans Day 8 June: The ocean is the most important buffer for CO2 and global warming
The annual World Oceans day is upon us. If we really want to do something about the effect of additional CO2 emissions on climate change we have to look at the oceans according to marine geologist, Professor Gert-Jan Reichart from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University.
On the 25th of may a double asteroid came uncomfortably close to earth. Here’s what astronomers saw
On May 25th, 2019, a strange, double-asteroid (1999 KW4) flew past Earth at a distance and speed that is likely to make a lot of people nervous. As always, there was no danger, since the asteroid passed Earth at a minimum distance of 5.2 million km (3.23 million mi), over 15 times greater than the distance between Earth of the Moon, and its orbit is well-understood by scientists.
How to speed up the discovery of new solar cell materials
There’s a Ring of Cool Gas Wrapped Around the Milky Way’s Supermassive Black Hole
There’s a lot going on at the center of our galaxy. A supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A-Star resides there, drawing material in with its inexorable gravitational attraction. In that mind-bending neighborhood, where the laws of physics are stretched beyond comprehension, astronomers have detected a ring of cool gas.
Ultra-processed food causes weight gain – firm evidence at last
We know we should eat less junk food, such as crisps, industrially made pizzas and sugar-sweetened drinks, because of their high calorie content. These “ultra-processed” foods, as they are now called by nutritionists, are high in sugar and fat, but is that the only reason they cause weight gain? An important new trial from the US National Institute of Health (NIH) shows there’s a lot more at work here than calories alone.
Astronomers See an Enormous Coronal Mass Ejection… On Another Star!
For the first time ever, astronomers have witnessed a coronal mass ejection (CME) on a star other than our very own Sun. The star, named HR 9024 (and also known as OU Andromeda,) is about 455 light years away, in the constellation Andromeda. It’s an active, variable star with a strong magnetic field, which astronomers say may cause CMEs.
What I’ve learned from teaching prisoners to think like scientists
It takes a while to get used to the constant locking of doors as you stop-start your way along a prison corridor. Walking through the main hall in HMP Low Newton, a women’s prison in County Durham, my flustered mind raced to try and maintain a normal conversation with my hosts. I’m a geophysicist, used to looking at shifts in the Earth’s plates, but I was there to start teaching a course called Think Like A Scientist.
Years of taking vitamin D appears to cut cancer death risk
Feeding mosquitoes sugar makes them less likely to bite – but don’t go leaving out sugary treats just yet
The teasing temptation of a sugary treat can often get the better of us. But don’t worry, we’re not the only ones. The saccharine substance that our sweet tooth finds so hard to resist is also powerfully seductive to mosquitoes. And according to new research, in helping to keep the pests away from our blood-rich body parts, sugar may for once be good for our health.
How Will NASA and ESA Handle Mars Samples When They Get Them Back to Earth?
Health Check: what’s the best way to sit?
Health Check: sitting versus standing
ESO contributes to protecting Earth from dangerous asteroids
The unique capabilities of the SPHERE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have enabled it to obtain the sharpest images of a double asteroid as it flew by Earth on 25 May. While this double asteroid was not itself a threatening object, scientists used the opportunity to rehearse the response to a hazardous Near-Earth Object (NEO), proving that ESO’s front-line technology could be critical in planetary defense.
NASA is building up a map of the entire sky seen in X-rays, line by line with its NICER experiment
In June of 2017, NASA’s Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) was installed aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The purpose of this instrument is to provide high-precision measurements of neutron stars and other super-dense objects that are on the verge of collapsing into black holes. NICER is also be the first instrument designed to test technology that will use pulsars as navigation beacons.
