-
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightComplex Organic Molecules Discovered on Rosetta’s Comet
With only a few days left before it’s scheduled to crash-land on the surface of Comet 67P, the Rosetta spacecraft is still yielding amazing discoveries. And I’m not just talking about lost comet landers. Scientists now report that Rosetta detected complex organic molecules in the dust surrounding its comet. This strengthens the argument that the … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
NOAA: Expect More Extreme Flood Events In the Future
Extreme, catastrophic flood events like the one that swamped Louisiana last month are becoming more likely because of climate change, according to a hot-off-the-press analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The study found that the record rainfall responsible for last month’s epic floods—the worst natural disaster to hit the United States since … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
Fossil Star Cluster Could Reveal Our Cosmic Origin Story
An incredible 19,000 light years away, in the Sagittarius constellation, lies a brilliant star cluster unlike any other. A new analysis indicates that Terzan 5 is a “fossil relic” from the formation of the Milky Way—and it could help us piece together our cosmic origin story. For 40 years, Terzan 5 was taken for a … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
How Scientists Found the Tiny Philae Lander On a Giant Comet
In the shadow of a cliff on an icy rock 700 million kilometers from Earth, a washing machine-sized robot by the name of Philae has spent the last two years in hibernation. We’d already given up hope of speaking with humanity’s first and only comet lander ever again, and time was running out to catch … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceHealth
Toxic Magnetic Waste From Air Pollution Found in Human Brains
Add this to the growing list of reasons to never go outside again: the human brain is apparently a sponge for toxic magnetic waste found in smog. That’s according to research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, which examined the brain tissue of 37 individuals age three to 92 … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceBiologyGiant Pandas Are No Longer Endangered
By the mercy of some higher power, the giant panda—an oversized mashup between a raccoon and a sloth whose offspring can’t shit on their own—is no longer endangered. At a meeting of the World Conservation Congress in Hawaii this weekend, experts took giant pandas off the IUCN’s official Red List, citing a population rebound in … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightJupiter Is ‘Hardly Recognizable’ In Juno’s Latest Images
The first close-up images of Jupiter as seen by NASA’s Juno spacecraft are finally rolling in—and the gas giant before us is barely recognizable. “First glimpse of Jupiter’s north pole, and it looks like nothing we have seen or imagined before,” Scott Bolton, principle investigator for the Juno Mission which arrived in orbit around Jupiter … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
There Is A Lot Of Confusion About What Geologic Epoch We’re In
For the record, planet Earth is still in the Holocene. I mention this because earlier in the week, news made the rounds that scientists have declared an end to the geologic epoch of the past 12,000 years. According to numerous reports, the Anthropocene, a new epoch of man and machine, has been upon us since … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightWe’ve Never Seen The Solar Wind Like This Before
Like an endless blaze roaring forth from the gates of hell, the solar wind is majestic, awe inspiring, and terrifying. The only proof you need that the Sun is the one and true master of our solar system is this never-before-seen view of a torrent of charged particles bursting out of our star’s corona. It’s … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
Florida Is About to Get Its First Hurricane In Over a Decade
As Hermine continues to menace Florida’s northwest coast, it officially crossed over into hurricane territory this afternoon. That makes this week rather special: Florida is about to get smacked with its first hurricane in more than a decade. For those who don’t live in the Sunshine State, the words “Florida” and “hurricane” might feel rather … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsScientists Think They’ve Found A Giant Ice Volcano On Ceres
On a lonely, cratered plain near the equator of dwarf planet Ceres, a mountain half the height of Everest spirals into an airless abyss. A few hundred million years ago, briny ice lavas from deep beneath the surface pushed Ahuna Mons up, freezing again as they oozed across the mountain’s rugged peak. That, at least, … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech News
Your Labor Day Beach Plans May Be Rained Out
Millions of Americans are preparing for a wet and wild Labor Day weekend as Tropical Storm Hermine bears down on the southeast, threatening to dump up to ten inches of rain over portions of northwest Florida and southern Georgia through Friday. The storm, which NOAA’s National Hurricane Center upgraded from a tropical depression late yesterday, … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
EartherClimate Change
Witness Climate Change Anywhere on Earth With This Mesmerizing Visualization
Climate change is happening all around us, but when your life is far more driven by the day-to-day weather, it can be hard to grasp the reality of a process playing out incrementally, globally, and over the course of generations. It’s much easier if you have a compelling visualization—and thankfully, one climate scientist with a … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsWhy Humans Will Never Live Off Sunlight
Imagine if we could be like plants, lying outside all day soaking up sweet, sweet energy from the sun. Doesn’t sound like a bad life, does it? So why aren’t the world’s best minds figuring out how to hack photosynthesis into humans? It turns out there are a lot of reasons, which are spelled out … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsHow a Hillbilly Delivery Man Is Trailblazing Our Cyborg Future
After losing his left arm to cancer in 2008, Jonny Matheny’s life changed radically. The self-styled West Virginia hillbilly, formerly a retail bread sales and delivery man, started traveling to medical research facilities around the country to volunteer as a test-subject for advanced prosthetics and experimental surgeries. Today, Matheny is something of a Model T … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
What In the World Just Happened to Comet 67P?
February 19th, 2016 was going to be just another day on Comet 67P—until suddenly, the icy space rock lit up in a blaze of glory, as if suddenly slapped by an angry angel. The strange astronomical event would have gone unnoticed by the seven billion people living right down the cosmic street, except that lucky … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
How We’ll Get Our First Big Clue About Life on Proxima b
Last week, astronomers announced that our nearest neighboring star hosts an Earth-sized planet in the habitable zone—an exciting prospect for alien life, and a possible second home for humanity. But before we assemble the interstellar welcoming party to greet our cosmic neighbors, we need to figure out whether Proxima b is capable of supporting life … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
Tech NewsAn ‘Unprecedented’ Pair of Hurricanes Is Churning Toward Hawaii
In what’s being hailed a meteorological first, two back-to-back hurricanes are marching toward Hawaii, both of them threatening torrential rains and rip-roaring winds this week. The closer of the two, hurricane Madeline, could break a second meteorological record as the first hurricane to strike the Big Island since bookkeeping began in 1949. Rumbling west at … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceSpace & Spaceflight
We Finally Know What Caused Those Mysterious Craters on Phobos
Phobos just can’t catch a break. Not only is Mars’ lumpy, crusted-over dust bunny of a moon destined to be ripped to pieces in ten million years, it seems the poor thing can’t stop punching itself. Not literally, of course. But it appears that a series of mysterious scars and crater chains on the battered … Continued
By Maddie Stone -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightHow Life Could Survive on the Newly Discovered Exoplanet Proxima B
After a week of rampant speculation, astronomers have officially announced the discovery of Proxima b, a potentially habitable world circling our nearest neighboring star. But even as engineers prepare for an interstellar voyage to scope out Proxima b for signs of life, some experts warn that M dwarf systems like Proxima Centauri may be unable … Continued
By Maddie Stone
Maddie Stone
Maddie Stone's posts