Our Planet

Turtle Facts: 10 amazing things about turtles

Turtles are reptiles, and like all reptile species, they’ve been around for a long time: the earliest fossils suggest that the first turtles evolved in the Late Permian Epoch, just before the Triassic period (251.9-201.3 million years ago, or Mya). For more than 200 million years, the body structure of turtles has not undergone any significant changes. Here are 10 amazing turtle facts.

The coldest place in the Universe moves back on Earth

Scientists from the University of Bremen set a new low-temperature record. They cooled matter in a tower to an extremely low temperature: 38 trillionths of a degree warmer than absolute zero. Nowhere in the universe can be any colder, so the coldest place in the Universe moves back on Earth again.

Quick Internet Access During Disasters with Internet Balloons

We can all agree that no school year has ever quite looked like this one. The Covid-19 global pandemic has disrupted the way we work, socialize, interact, and communicate to unprecedented degrees. With dorms and classrooms closed for months, students joined the rest of the country in sheltering at home – whether they could afford to do so or not! As offices and schools around the globe go remote, the internet becomes more important than ever to everyone – so when your internet connection slows down in the face of multiple household users – we all feel it! So, what happens in the event of a local disaster, where the local internet infrastructure is- temporarily or permanently- destroyed?

In this article, we will explore the possibilities presented by roving internet balloons that can provide access and connectivity as a high-tech form of disaster relief.

Why Earth and Venus followed different paths

Earth is the only planet we know contains life. Is our planet special? Scientists over the years have mulled over what factors are essential for, or beneficial to, life. The answers will help us identify other potentially inhabited planets elsewhere in the galaxy.

Antony Burnham, Australian National University and Hugh O’Neill, Australian National University

Moon samples returned from Chang’e-5 tell of recent volcanism

A spectacular image of the Moon (cropped)

Change-5 represents China’s first mission to return moon samples to Earth, hence marks a major step forward for China’s lunar exploration program. Now, recent analysis suggests that the Moon samples returned from Chang’e-5 tell of recent volcanism.

10 Tips to Help You Choose the Best Camera for Landscape Photography

How to choose the best camera for landscape photography?

Taking photos can be a fun hobby but it is also a serious profession for others. Whether you are looking for a camera under $200 or something a little more professional-grade, there are a million questions. What is the best camera for landscape photography?

The best camera for landscape photography can depend on just what kind of landscape photos you are looking to take. Do you go with a mirrorless camera? A digital SLR camera? This is your guide to finding the best fit for your needs.

Pallas’s cat: 12 things you didn’t know about

Pallas’s cat (scientific name: Felis manul or Otocolobus manul), also known as simply manul, is a small Central Asian wild cat. Its characteristic face, short nose, and long and dense light grey fur make the cat easily distinguishable even from a distance. Here are 12 amazing Pallas’s cat facts.

Developing the Hardest Material on Earth

What is the hardest material on Earth? Traditionally, because of its extreme hardness, diamond is used as a cutting material in a multitude of fields, from aerospace engineering to geothermal energy. Recently, using ultra-high pressures and temperatures, scientists have created a new form of diamond, which is now the hardest material known to humankind.

10 Amazing Tarsier Facts

Tarsiers are small (and very cute!) primates that live in the islands of Southeast Asia (especially the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei). They are the only living member of the family Tarsiidae. Here are 10 amazing tarsier facts.

NASA Worldview: Explore Your Dynamic Planet

NASA’s Worldview tool from Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) provides the capability to interactively browse thousands of global, full-resolution satellite imagery layers and then download the underlying data.