Aurora records reveal shortened solar cycle during Maunder minimum
Sunspots change in number depending on how much magnetic activity the solar dynamo generates. But there's not total chaos: These changes occur in a cycle, which lasts about 11 years on average. The sun also experiences extended periods of low activit.....»»
Astronomers race to capture image of exoplanet near star
Planet AF Lep b is a world of firsts. In 2023, it was the lowest-mass planet outside our solar system to be directly observed and have its mass measured using astrometry. This is a technique that charts the subtle movements of a host star over many y.....»»
NASA announces a new class of space missions: Probe explorers
NASA has sent a whole host of spacecraft across the solar system and even beyond. They range from crewed ships to orbit and to the moon to robotic explorers. Among them are a range of mission classes from Flagships to Discovery Class programs. Now a.....»»
Polar jet stream could reveal Saturn"s rotational period
A hexagon-shaped atmospheric phenomenon first spotted on Saturn by Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 has intrigued scientists since the 1980s. More recently, NASA's Cassini mission has periodically observed the hexagon and its embedded strong eastward jet that.....»»
We’re finally going to the Solar System’s most intriguing but unexplored frontier
If you've been waiting for a real mission of discovery into the unknown, this is it. I really hate to be the bearer of such bad news, but you and I will not live forever, dear rea.....»»
Astronaut enjoys out-of-this-world view from his bedroom window
Space station astronaut Matthew Dominick recently shared imagery of a beautiful aurora, captured from right where he sleeps......»»
How accessible is titanium on the moon?
Mining the moon to extract its resources is a critical step on humanity's path into the solar system. One of the most common resources on the moon is considered relatively valuable here on Earth—titanium......»»
Get 30% off the 4K Reolink Altas PT Ultra 360-degree wireless camera
Looking for a high-definition wireless camera with a long runtime and no blind spots? Reolink’s Altas PT Ultra delivers up to 500-day battery capacity, super-sharp 4K recording, 360-degree auto-tracking, solar support, and more. Better yet, the du.....»»
Limestone and iron reveal puzzling extreme rain in Western Australia 100,000 years ago
Almost one-sixth of Earth's land surface is covered in otherworldly landscapes with a name that may also be unfamiliar: karst. These landscapes are like natural sculpture parks, with dramatic terrain dotted with caves and towers of bedrock slowly scu.....»»
New Kuiper Belt objects lurk farther away than we ever thought
Earth's Kuiper Belt appears to be substantially larger than we thought. In the outer reaches of the Solar System, beyond the ice giant Neptune, lies a ring of comets and dwarf pla.....»»
The sun unleashes its strongest flare this cycle
Yesterday the sun released a huge solar flare, and it's heading toward Earth. It's nothing to worry about since it's nowhere near as large as the Carrington Event of 1859, but it is large enough to give us some amazing aurora......»»
Researchers reveal key mechanism in regulating DNA recombination
Meiotic recombination generates genetic diversity and promotes proper chromosomal segregation of parental chromosomes. This process requires a set of recombinases polymerized on single-stranded (ss) DNAs called the nucleoprotein filament to undergo h.....»»
How to view the Northern Lights in the U.S. this weekend
The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, will be visible this weekend in the U.S. Here's how to get the best view. The Northern Lights are set to make another appearance over the next few days, bathing the sky over the U.S.-Canadian border in a.....»»
How future heat waves at sea could devastate UK marine ecosystems and fisheries
The oceans are warming at an alarming rate. 2023 shattered records across the world's oceans, and was the first time that ocean temperatures exceeded 1°C over pre-industrial levels. This led to the emergence of a series of marine heat wave events ac.....»»
Traces of antimatter in cosmic rays reopen the search for "WIMPs" as dark matter
One of the great challenges of modern cosmology is to reveal the nature of dark matter. We know it exists (it constitutes more than 85% of the matter in the universe), but we have never seen it directly and still do not know what it is......»»
Sentinel-2 data reveal significant seasonal variations in intertidal seagrass
With data from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, researchers have revealed seasonal variations in intertidal seagrass across Western Europe and North Africa. As a key indicator of biodiversity, these new findings offer valuable insights for the cons.....»»
A new era of solar observation: International team produces global maps of coronal magnetic field
For the first time, scientists have taken near-daily measurements of the sun's global coronal magnetic field, a region of the sun that has only been observed irregularly in the past. The resulting observations are providing valuable insights into the.....»»
South America treated to rare "ring of fire" eclipse
Skygazers on the tip of South America were treated Wednesday to a spectacular "ring of fire" solar eclipse that was visible from Chile's Easter Island before heading to mainland Patagonia......»»
Study reveals oyster reefs once thrived along Europe"s coasts—now they"re gone
Oysters once formed extensive reefs along much of Europe's coastline—but these complex ecosystems were destroyed over a century ago, new research shows. The paper, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, is titled "Records reveal the vast h.....»»
Early foster care gave poor women power, 17th-century records reveal
A rare collection of 300-year-old petitions gives voice to the forgotten women who cared for England's most vulnerable children while battling their local authorities......»»
New solar wind plasma sensor will help track space weather
The Southwest Research Institute-developed Solar Wind Plasma Sensor (SWiPS) has been delivered and integrated into a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite dedicated to tracking space weather. SWiPS will measure the properti.....»»