Our Planet

The Artform of Teaching Science in the 21st Century

As a new or perhaps even veteran teacher, it can be tricky finding the right resources to rely on when it comes to certain subjects – particularly, science. As educators, our main goal is to not only teach students new and stimulating things about the world but to better prepare them for the rest of their educational careers.

Farout: the most-distant body ever observed in Solar System

Researchers discovered the farthest known object in our solar system and named it “Farout” (far-out-there). It is about 120 times farther than Earth is from the Sun (120 AU, see notes 1). For comparison, the most distant planet, Neptune is about 30 AU from the Sun. At its most distant, once upon a time the ninth planet, now a dwarf planet, Pluto, can be 49 AU (7.29 billion km, or 4.53 billion miles) from the Sun. Currently, Pluto is at about 34 AU, making Farout more than three-and-a-half times more distant than the Solar System‘s most-famous dwarf planet.

How Cities Will Evolve to Become More Sustainable

Increasing environmental sustainability has become an important topic both on the minds of many individuals and in the media. This is for good reason – recently, studies have starkly illuminated the impact of climate change and the role humans play in increasing global temperatures. With sobering consequences such as drought and more severe weather patterns, an increased number of people have started to consider how they can become more sustainable. In this global shift, many cities are moving to become more sustainable and decrease negative impacts on the environment. Although the level of involvement varies by city and country, evolution is occurring as cities implement improved infrastructure and policies to become more sustainable.

Yet Another Scale Model of the Solar System [Video]

Previously I posted articles titled “If The Moon Were Only 1 Pixel – A Tediously Accurate Map Of The Solar System” and “A Scale Model Of Solar System Drawn In The Desert And The Result Is Stunning”. Since the human brain cannot deal with really large numbers, these articles provide amazing ways to understand how big actually our Solar System is.

Now, in his YouTube channel, The Science Asylum, physicist Nick Lucid provides yet another scale model of the solar system. A very nice video conceptualizing how mind-bogglingly big our solar system (and space) is.

Orcas swimming around a woman (video)

Three orcas swimming with a woman (New Zealand)

A woman was swimming on 4 December 2018 at Hahei Beach on the Coromandel peninsular, New Zealand. Then a pod of orcas (killer whales) swam up to her (probably a mother and two calves), and circled her. They kept swimming around her while she was headed to the shore. Especially the mother swam really close to her. A man named Dylan Brayshaw captured the full scene from a drone. The result is the amazing drone footage below.

Amazing time-lapse of the Russian spacewalk over the Atlantic Ocean (video)

The European Space Agency has published an amazing sped-up time-lapse video of the Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Sergey Prokopyev during their spacewalk as they floated over the Atlantic Ocean. The video was taken from the European Columbus laboratory.

The two cosmonauts look like working honeybees in the upper-right corner in this sped-up video.

What Happens to the “Space Junk” that Falls back to Earth?

Kessler Syndrome: Explosions of satellites and rocket bodies

In 1908, a flaming meteor fell through the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded above the Stony Tunguska River in the Siberian forest. The result was shocking: 80 million trees over 820 square miles were blown over like toothpicks and mankind began to fear destruction from outer space. A century later, it seems this fear should be focused not on natural objects from the heavens. Rather, a greater danger to man is the human-made debris orbiting the earth. This “space junk” threatens the Earth’s environment in several ways.

Proof of life: how would we recognize an alien if we saw one?

What would convince you that aliens existed? The question came up recently at a conference on astrobiology, held at Stanford University in California. Several ideas were tossed around – unusual gases in a planet’s atmosphere, strange heat gradients on its surface. But none felt persuasive. Finally, one scientist offered the solution: a photograph. There was some laughter and a murmur of approval from the audience of researchers: yes, a photo of an alien would be convincing evidence, the holy grail of proof that we’re not alone.

Astronaut Chris Hadfield explains the Soyuz MS-11 launch

Chris Hadfield explains Soyuz MS-11 Launch

Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, and former Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot Chris Hadfield explains the Soyuz MS-11 launch which happened on December 3, 2018.

It is great to listen to such an experienced astronaut explaining what happens during the launch, what astronauts feel, etc.

Soyuz MS-11 Launch and Dock as seen from the ISS

Soyuz MS-11 Launch from the ISS, December 3, 2018

On December 3, 2018, a Soyuz MS-11 spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. It was the first manned launch since the Soyuz MS-10 spaceflight aborted shortly after launch on 11 October 2018 due to a failure of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle boosters (see notes 1). It was the 100th orbital launch of 2018.

Soyuz MS-11 successfully docked to the ISS about six hours after the launch.

European Space Agency astronaut aboard the International Space Station, Alexander Gerst photographed the launch and the docking from the ISS and published these amazing photos on his Twitter account.