Science Archives

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020 by Paul M. Sutter

When Universities Reopen, Will Students Return?

In response to the Covid-19 global pandemic, schools and universities around the world have shut their doors and told their students to go home. Most of them continued their educational mission, but through remote remote learning platforms rather than in-person lectures.

Some of these universities and schools maintained this status for only a few weeks, while some kept this as the default state for the rest of their spring semester.

April 29, 2020April 29, 2020 by Evan Gough

There Might Be Dust Devils On Titan Too

Artist's concept of a dust storm on Titan. Credits: IPGP/Labex UnivEarthS/University Paris Diderot – C. Epitalon & S. Rodriguez

Saturn’s moon Titan is alone among the Solar System’s moons. It’s the only one with any atmosphere to speak of. Other moons may have thin, largely insignificant atmospheres, like Ganymede with its potential oxygen atmosphere. But Titan’s atmosphere is dense, and rich in nitrogen.

A new study shows that Titan’s atmosphere and winds might produce dust devils similar to Earth’s.

April 29, 2020April 29, 2020 by Paul M. Sutter

How Will Covid-19 affect the Future of Science?

The domes of the two first SPECULOOS telescopes, shortly after their installation in November 2016 at ESO's Paranal Observatory. The SPECULOOS Southern Observatory is designed to detect terrestrial exoplanets around nearby ultra cool stars and brown dwarfs. The VLT is visible in the background of this image.

The full ramifications of the recent novel coronavirus pandemic are not yet known, and probably won’t be known or even felt for quite some time. Entire industries have been shifted and shuttered over the course of only a few tumultuous weeks due to Covid-19. Some industries and professions have been able to adapt quickly, some have had to close down or to send their workers home, while others are faltering and collapsing.

April 16, 2020April 16, 2020 by Evan Gough

Astronomers Finally Think They Understand Where Interstellar Object Oumuamua Came From and How it Formed

Artist’s impression of the first interstellar asteroid/comet, "Oumuamua". This unique object was discovered on 19 October 2017 by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

‘Oumuamua caused quite a stir when it visited our Solar System in 2017. It didn’t stay long, however, and when it was spotted with the Pan-STARRS telescope in Hawaii on October 19th, it was already leaving. But its appearance in our part of the Universe spawned a lot of conjecture on its nature and its origins.

April 8, 2020April 8, 2020 by Evan Gough

Seriously, Life Really Does Get Around. It was Found in Rocks Deep Beneath the Seafloor

Map showing the underwater topography (bathymetry) of the ocean floor. Like land terrain, the ocean floor has ridges, valleys, plains and volcanoes. Image Credit: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=617528

After a lot of hard work spanning many years, a team of scientists have discovered something surprising. They’ve found abundant bacterial life in tiny cracks in undersea volcanic rock in the Earth’s crust. The bacteria are thriving in clay deposits inside these tiny cracks.

This discovery is generating new excitement around the hope of finding life on Mars.

April 3, 2020April 3, 2020 by Evan Gough

Because of Coronavirus Lockdowns, Europe is Having the Same Drop in Pollution that we Saw in China

Satellite data shows that air pollution over European cities has dropped during coronavirus lockdowns. Image Credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019-20), processed by KNMI/ESA

The pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus is creating all kinds of chaos for human society. But for the dear old Earth, and the humans and creatures that breathe its air, it’s a bit of a reprieve. Mirroring what happened in China during lock-down, Europe is now seeing the same drop in air pollution.

March 23, 2020March 23, 2020 by Evan Gough

This is Foam, Made in Space

An early image from the ESA's Foam-Coarsening on the ISS. Image Credit: ESA

Say hello to Space Foam.

The ESA has a science lab on the International Space Station called Columbus. Inside that lab is the Fluid Science Laboratory, dedicated to studying the behaviour of fluids in microgravity. Currently, that lab is being used to study a substance most of us probably don’t spend much time thinking about: foam.

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 by Evan Gough

Your Umbrella is Insufficient on a Planet Where it Rains Iron

Work by the Geneva cartoonist Frederik Peeters: «Singing in the Iron Rain: An Evening on WASP-76b». (Detail - © Frederik Peeters)

Imagine a planet where it rained iron. Sounds impossible. But on one distant exoplanet, which is tidally locked to its star, the nightside has to contend with a ferrous downpour.

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 by Evan Gough

Slime Mold Grows the Same as the Large Scale Structure of the Universe

Image of the large-scale structure of the Universe, showing filaments and voids within the cosmic structure. Credit: Millennium Simulation Project. Now, the latest FLAMINGO simulation provide more detail about the evolution of the Universe within these structures. — Image of the large-scale structure of the Universe, showing filaments and voids within the cosmic structure. Who knows how many other civilizations might be out there? Credit: Millennium Simulation Project

Matter in the Universe is not distributed equally. It’s dominated by super-clusters and the filaments of matter that string them together, surrounded by huge voids. Galaxy super-clusters are at the top of the hierarchy. Inside those is everything else: galaxy groups and clusters, individual galaxies, and solar systems. This hierarchical structure is called the “Cosmic Web.”

But how and why did the Universe take this form?

March 11, 2020March 11, 2020 by Evan Gough

70 Million Years Ago, Days Were 30 Minutes Shorter, According to this Ancient Clam

Fossil rudist bivalves (Vaccinites) from the Al-Hajar Mountains, United Arab Emirates. Credit: Wikipedia, Wilson44691 – Own work, Public Domain

Has humanity been doing it all wrong? We’re busy staring off into space with our futuristic, ultra-powerful telescopes, mesmerized by ethereal nebulae and other wondrous objects, and trying to tease out the Universe’s well-kept secrets. Turns out, humble, ancient clams have something to tell us, too.