Jan. 6, 2017 – From the most powerful telescope orbiting Mars comes a new view of Earth and its moon, showing continent-size detail on the planet and the relative size of the moon. The image combines two separate exposures taken on Nov. 20, 2016, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s […]
Sci/Tech
Climate change could trigger strong sea level rise
Jan. 5, 2017 – About 15,000 years ago, the ocean around Antarctica has seen an abrupt sea level rise of several meters. It could happen again. An international team of scientists with the participation of the University of Bonn is now reporting its findings in the magazine Scientific Reports. University of Bonn’s climate researcher Michael […]
NASA moon data provides more accurate 2017 eclipse path (VIDEO)
Jan. 5, 2017 – On Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, millions in the U.S. will have their eyes to the sky as they witness a total solar eclipse. The moon’s shadow will race across the United States, from Oregon to South Carolina. The path of this shadow, also known as the path of totality, is where […]
NASA’s NEOWISE Mission Spies One Comet, Maybe Two
December 29, 2016 – NASA’s NEOWISE mission has recently discovered some celestial objects traveling through our neighborhood, including one on the blurry line between asteroid and comet. Another–definitely a comet–might be seen with binoculars through next week. An object called 2016 WF9 was detected by the NEOWISE project on Nov. 27, 2016. It’s in an […]
Tool to understand spread of fake news launched
Dec. 27, 2016 – The Observatory on Social Media at Indiana University has launched a powerful new tool in the fight against fake news. The tool, called Hoaxy (http://hoaxy.iuni.iu.edu/), visualizes how claims in the news — and fact checks of those claims — spread online through social networks. The tool is built upon earlier work […]
2016 remains on track to be hottest on record
December 21, 2016 – The year 2016 remains on track to be the hottest year on record, with average global temperatures set to break even the records of 2015, according to data covering the first eleven months of the year. Temperatures spiked in the early months of 2016 because of a very strong El Niño […]
Meteorological Versus Astronomical Seasons
December 21, 2016 – You may have noticed that meteorologists and climatologists define seasons differently from “regular” or astronomical spring, summer, fall, and winter. So, why do meteorological and astronomical seasons begin and end at different times? In short, it’s because the astronomical seasons are based on the position of Earth in relation to the […]
Antibiotic gel helps prevent onset of Lyme borreliosis following a tick bite
Dec. 20, 2016 – An antibiotic gel based on azithromycin, an antibiotic with antibacterial properties, helps to prevent the onset of Lyme borreliosis following a tick bite. That is the finding of a multi-centre international study, in which MedUni Vienna’s Department of Clinical Pharmacology played an important part. The study has now been published in […]
New Technology Could Help Track Firefighters for Safety
December 19, 2016 – In 1999, six career firefighters lost their lives responding to a five-alarm fire. They were part of a group of 73 dispatched to a smoke-filled warehouse in Worcester, Massachusetts. Lost inside the building’s tight corners, they were unable to find an exit before running out of oxygen. Avoiding a tragedy like […]
Where is the Ice on Ceres? New NASA Dawn Findings
December 16, 2016 – At first glance, Ceres, the largest body in the main asteroid belt, may not look icy. Images from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft have revealed a dark, heavily cratered world whose brightest area is made of highly reflective salts — not ice. But newly published studies from Dawn scientists show two distinct lines […]
NOAA: Unprecedented Arctic warmth in 2016 triggers massive decline in sea ice, snow
Dec. 15, 2016 – A new NOAA-sponsored report shows that unprecedented warming air temperature in 2016 over the Arctic contributed to a record-breaking delay in the fall sea ice freeze-up, leading to extensive melting of Greenland ice sheet and land-based snow cover. Now in its 11th year, the Arctic Report Card, released at the annual […]
UC Berkeley quake-detection app captured nearly 400 temblors worldwide
Dec. 14, 2016 – UC Berkeley’s worldwide network of smartphone earthquake detectors has recorded nearly 400 earthquakes since the MyShake app was made available for download in February, with one of the most active areas of the world the fracking fields of Oklahoma. The Android app harnesses a smartphone’s motion detectors to measure earthquake ground […]
NASA Releases New Eye-Popping View of Carbon Dioxide
Dec. 13, 2016 – A new NASA supercomputer project builds on the agency’s satellite measurements of carbon dioxide and combines them with a sophisticated Earth system model to provide one of the most realistic views yet of how this critical greenhouse gas moves through the atmosphere. Scientists have tracked the rising concentration of heat-trapping carbon […]
Will Trump Scrap NASA’s Climate Research Mission?
December 14, 2016 – The wonders of NASA 2014 Mars rovers, astronaut Instagram feeds, audacious missions probing distant galactic mysteries 2014 have long enthralled the American public. And, it turns out, the accomplishments have won the agency the public’s trust: Polls have consistently shown NASA to be the second-most trusted government institution, behind only the […]
Digital Denied: Free Press Report Exposes the Impact of Systemic Racism on Internet Adoption in U.S.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2016 — On Tuesday, Free Press released a comprehensive study examining and exposing links between the digital divide and systemic discrimination in America. Digital Denied takes a deep and detailed look at the role race plays in determining whether a person has affordable home access to high-speed internet services. The Free Press […]
U.S. had its warmest autumn and 2nd warmest November on record
December 11, 2016 – The average U.S. temperature in autumn was 57.6 degrees F (4.1 degrees above average) and surpassed last fall as the warmest on record, according to scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. Precipitation during this period was about average for the nation, with wet extremes in the Northwest and dry […]
Killing in War Leaves Veterans with Lasting Psychological Scars, Study Finds
Dec. 9, 2016 – Killing in war often triggers a moral conflict in veterans that can damage their self-image, relationships and spirituality, according to a study by UCSF researchers at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. For many of these veterans—some of whom may already suffer from post-traumatic stress (PTSD)—the guilt, shame, anger […]
Sea ice hits record lows
BOULDER, CO, Dec. 6, 2016 – Unusually high air temperatures and a warm ocean have led to a record low Arctic sea ice extent for November, according to scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). In the Southern Hemisphere, Antarctic sea ice extent also hit a record low for the month, caused […]
Extreme downpours could increase five-fold across parts of the U.S.
BOULDER, Colo. December 6, 2016 – At century’s end, the number of summertime storms that produce extreme downpours could increase by more than 400 percent across parts of the United States — including sections of the Gulf Coast, Atlantic Coast, and the Southwest — according to a new study by scientists at the National Center […]
CBD Oil Reduces Frequency, Severity of Epileptic Seizures, According to UAB Findings
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Dec. 3, 2016 – Cannabidiol oil, also known as CBD oil, reduces the frequency and severity of seizures in children and adults with severe, intractable epilepsy, according to findings presented by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham at the American Epilepsy Society 70th Annual Meeting. UAB researchers presented eleven abstracts, or […]