Astronomers Create Largest 3D Map of the Universe
A team of astronomers working with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) created the largest ever three-dimensional map of the universe. Released along with an accompanying study, the astronomers say the new map is the first to exclusively use the positions of quasars to chart the significant structures of the Universe. “Because quasars are so […]
New Report Predicts Possible Dip in Global CO2 Emissions
An international collaboration of scientists, in a new report, predicts the percentage of global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels may actually dip slightly in 2015 compared to 2014 levels. “In 2014, global CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels grew by just 0.6 percent,” said the report’s lead author Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth […]
Scientists Find Jupiter’s Younger Sibling
A group of scientists have discovered a new exoplanet they say resembles a young Jupiter. Called 51 Eridani b, the gas giant is about 100 light years away, has twice the mass of Jupiter, orbits its star – 51 Eridani – at a distance comparable to between Saturn and Uranus in our solar system and […]
Universe Dying?; Seals Use Voice Recognition; Bacteria Helps Smokers Quit
Astronomers Say our Universe is Dying Is our universe slowly dying? An international group of astronomers, who studied more than 200,000 galaxies and precisely measured the energy produced within a large portion of the cosmos, have confirmed that a section of the Universe is generating about half as much energy as it did two billion […]
Close Call for ISS; Threat to Polar Bears; Binary System Cannibal
ISS Crewmembers Back to Work after Close Call with Space Junk Fear that a floating piece of space junk could impact the ISS sent astronauts the station’s crew scrambling onto a docked Soyuz TMA-16M spacecraft on Friday (07/17). Luckily, the debris passed the station harmlessly, and the crew was back at work. Houston’s Mission Control […]
Science Scanner: Cat Videos Can Help You, Permanent Dust Cloud Surrounds Moon
Watching Cat Videos Can Give You a Boost You can hardly surf the Internet without stumbling across a cat video, and new research suggests those videos could actually be good for you. Of all the categories of YouTube video content, videos of cats have had more views per video. It’s been suggested that there were […]
Short Circuit Snags Giant Atom Smasher Restart
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, has run into a bit of a snag in its plans to have its upgraded Large Hadron Collider (LHC) — the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator — up and running by this week for its second three-year run. Officials are suggesting that the delay in getting […]
Are We Destabilizing our Planetary Life Support System?
Three recently released studies are painting a grim picture for the future of humanity on planet Earth. Professor Will Steffen from the Australian National University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre led some international scientists on two of the studies. Their papers found that the impact of human activity on Earth, such as economic growth/globalization, population […]
Study Finds Energy Use in Cities Causes Winter Warming
Everyday energy consumption in urban areas could be significant enough to cause winter temperatures to rise. According to a new study funded by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), waste heat released in major cities in the Northern Hemisphere in the northern-most parts of North America and Eurasia. “The world’s most populated metropolitan areas, which […]
Fatter Population Threatens World Food Supply
Turns out obesity isn’t just a health issue; all of that overeating could seriously cut into the future world food supply. According to a new study from Great Britain, if the current worldwide obesity epidemic continues unabated, maintaining enough food to feed the world could actually become a much more serious challenge. Right now, the […]