Our Planet

An Astronaut’s Christmas Carol – Jewel in the Night (New video by Chris Hadfield)

An Astronaut's Christmas Carol - Jewel in the Night. Chris Hadfield with his guitar in the ISS

Retired astronaut (the first Canadian to walk in space), former commander of the International Space Station (ISS), musician, engineer, and former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot Chris Hadfield published a new music video: “An Astronaut’s Christmas Carol – Jewel in the Night”.

10 Most Beautiful Earth Photos Taken From the International Space Station in 2019

Most beautiful Earth photos from ISS in 2019 - Issyk-Kul

Here are the top 10 most beautiful Earth photos taken by the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the orbiting laboratory, in 2019. Which one is your favorite? Or if your favorite image was not listed here, please leave a comment below. To see all images taken from the International Space Station and published by NASA, visit Space Station Images webpage.

The Danger of Dams

The idea behind controlling waterways through dams isn’t new. The oldest dam in the world, the Kallanai Dam, began operation on the Kaveri River in Tamil Nadu, India in the 2nd century, and it’s still in use today.

Scale and composition of Earth’s surface

Major constituents of the Earth's crust, water, and atmosphere

In collaboration with Dr. Christine Houser (@seismodoc), a specially appointed assistant Professor of solid Earth geophysics at the Earth-Life Science Institute in Japan, NASA Goddard Planetary Scientist Dr. James O’Donoghue (@physicsJ) created another amazing animation titled “Scale and Composition of Earth’s surface: Major constituents of the crust, water, and atmosphere” and published on his YouTube channel.

How Climate Change Impacts California Wildfires

Every year, California wildfires force residents to temporarily evacuate their homes and seek refuge in shelters, motels, or with relatives. While the wildfire season is one of the few things that truly unites both Northern and Southern California, it’s also not a new phenomenon: you can track over a century of California wildfires recorded by Cal Fire as part of a California Public Radio Project.

Why People Are Electrifying Their Homes (Infographic)

All homes run on electricity, but about half of the homes in the US also use natural gas for things like heating and cooking. A new trend to “electrify everything” is an attempt to reduce carbon emissions by switching to cleaner energy. Electrifying your home means converting any natural gas appliances and technologies into their homes to run on electricity.

Space Shuttle Atlantis meets Mir [July 4, 1995, STS-71]

Space Shuttle Atlantis Meets Mir Space Station (1995)

An amazing historic photo of the Space Shuttle Atlantis still connected to Russia’s Mir Space Station. It was taken on July 4, 1995, by the Mir-19 crew.

“The Deep Sea”: life in the depth of the oceans

Young software developer Neal Agarwal (Twitter: @nealagarwal) created an amazing interactive visualization showing life in the depth of the oceans. Named “The Deep Sea” (click here to see the visualization), the interactive webpage shows the living depths and also the maximum diving points of various animals. Be prepared to be amazed!

Relative rotation speeds of the planets

NASA Goddard Planetary Scientist Dr. James O’Donoghue (@physicsJ) created another beautiful video showing the relative rotation speeds of Solar System planets.

Sunrise, Sunset, Clouds, and Milky Way [Amazing Time-lapse from Mount Pilatus]

This incredible 4k time-lapse, published by Oliver Schmid shows sunrises, sunsets, clouds, and the Milky Way from Mount Pilatus, Switzerland. A breathtaking video that reminds us of how amazing a place our planet is. Enjoy!