Smartphone App Helps Farmers Fight Pest
Since being spotted in Nigeria in 2016, a fast-spreading agricultural pest called Spodoptera frugiperda, or the fall armyworm, has been threatening the food security of people who live in countries across sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, this pest can cause significant damage to many hectares of […]
Hot Monster Planet; No Fountain of Youth; Sunscreen Snow on Exoplanet
Hot Monster Planet Found Orbiting Small Star British astronomers say they discovered a “monster” planet orbiting a tiny star, but, according to planet formation theory, the planet should not even exist. The theory suggests a planet of its size could not be formed around such a small star. Located about 600 light years from Earth, […]
Exoplanet Bonanza; Good Sleep = Less Stress; Help Find Planet 9
7 Earth-Like Planets Found Orbiting Single Star Scientists using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have found the largest group of earth-like planets circling a single star. A total of seven planets were observed orbiting TRAPPIST-1, a star located only about 40 light years from Earth. The discovery also set a record for the number of planets that were […]
Powerful Punch of Gamma Rays Found in Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts
Astronomers at the Pennsylvania State University say they have discovered that the mysterious and elusive astronomical phenomenon called fast radio bursts, or FRB’s, can also pack a powerful punch of gamma rays along with their mighty but brief pulse of radio waves. This discovery of the FRB’s gamma rays was made after researchers studied observational […]
Cosmic Cannon; Mars Dust Storm Forecast; Dione’s Subsurface Ocean
Astronomers Find a Cosmic Cannon Astronomers have spotted super-hot blobs of plasma blasting into space like cannonballs near a dying red giant star, some 1,200 light years away. Using the Hubble Space Telescope to make their discovery, the scientists found that the balls of hot gas are flying so fast a trip from the Earth […]
Science Scanner: Mapping an Asteroid; Why the Universe Didn’t Collapse; Spicy Food Saves Lives
Scientists Create Geologic and Tectonic Map of Vesta the Asteroid A group of scientists used high-resolution images captured by NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft between 2011 and 2012 to create what they say is the first total geologic and tectonic map of the asteroid Vesta. Details on the work appear in the December edition of the journal […]
Coldest-Ever Brown Dwarf Star Discovered
The coldest-ever brown dwarf star has been found about 7 light-years away from Earth and could help scientist learn more about the atmospheres of planets. Brown dwarfs are objects that are too big to be planets, but too small to be considered stars. They begin their lives like stars, but since their mass is so […]