Climate change is a global dilemma that most people in this world are largely concerned about. Ever since discovering that certain human-made gases like CFCs and excessive burning of fossil fuels, humans have resorted to finding ways to prevent the ozone layer from being further depleted.
Long before the current political divide over climate change, and even before the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865), an American scientist named Eunice Foote documented the underlying cause of today’s climate change crisis.
Climate change is a topic that’s discussed more and more frequently as the effects of human interactions with the planet begin to manifest. There has been a rise in natural disasters and temperature fluctuations. The previous balance that existed in ecosystems is now deteriorating, and the solutions to mitigate further problems are now delving into the realm of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
Over the past 75 odd years, plastics have become an integral part of our lives. Nearly every single thing we interact with has some plastic component to it. From children’s toys to packaging to disposable dishware to the little stickers on our bananas – all of these things create plastic waste, much of it after one use.
Asteroids can pose a threat to life on Earth but are also a valuable source of resources to make fuel or water to aid deep space exploration. Devoid of geological and atmospheric processes, these space rocks provide a window onto the evolution of the solar system. But to really understand their secrets, scientists must know what’s inside them.
American astronaut Wally Funk (born February 1, 1939) became the oldest person to fly in space, breaking a 23-year record held by the fellow American John Glenn (July 18, 1921 – December 8, 2016). Glenn was 77 years old when he went to space with Space Shuttle Discovery (mission STS-95, launched on 29 October 1995).
82-year-old Funk set this record on Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft. As of 2021, she remains the only member of the Mercury 13 (see notes 1) to have traveled to space. Only two members of Mercury 13 are still alive, the other being Nora Jessen.
As global warming accelerates in recent decades, extreme heat waves have become more frequent. In the summer of 2021, record temperatures are recorded in North America, with Canada and the states in the northwestern United States have reported hundreds of deaths from a heat dome.
Lidar (Light Detection and Ranging) is a laser-based remote sensing tool that can measure the concentration of small particles, called aerosols, in the atmosphere. Monitoring aerosols is crucial for climate modeling, air quality measurements, and understanding the health impacts of atmospheric pollution. However, existing lidar systems require sophisticated and expensive equipment and are usually deployed by research technicians. They also have trouble measuring atmospheric pollutants near the ground, where they impact human health. Scientist Dr. John Barnes at NOAA in Boulder, Colorado, and his colleagues have developed an inexpensive and straightforward commercial lidar solution using widely available camera and optical equipment.
Today, On July 11, 2021, a new era in space tourism just opened up: by having flown its founder, Richard Branson, the British American spaceflight company Virgin Galactic became the first spaceflight company to independently launch a paying civilian into outer space using the 50-mile high definition of outer space (see notes 1). Former Canadian astronaut and the former commander of the International Space Station Chris Hadfield has decorated Branson with an Astronaut Badge.
The whale shark (scientific name: Rhincodon typus) is the largest member of the shark family and also the largest fish in the Earth’s oceans, can reach up to 18+ meters (60+ feet) in length, but this species is harmless to humans. Here are 10 amazing whale shark facts.