How the Montreal Protocol saved Earth’s protective ozone layer
When discussing climate change, the ozone layer is often brought up as a critical component, but what does the ozone layer actually do? Essentially, the ozone layer is a protective barrier that protects our planet from the sun’s harmful rays. It is like nature’s sunscreen. Earlier this Read More...
New NASA telescope project will allow us to foresee what the dinosaurs could not
Most of us probably don’t worry about asteroids on a daily basis, but for NASA, this is one of the threats to our planet that must be considered. In an effort to avoid meeting the same fate as the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, NASA is planning to launch a space telescope to monitor for Read More...
How the latest technology can save our coral reefs
As you may have read before, coral reefs around the world have been dying over the past years. Corals are incredibly sensitive to erratic changes in the environment - inculcating higher ocean acidity and temperature. Coral reefs are known as “ocean jungles” - a deserved name seeing that they Read More...
Want to go to space? Here’s what you need to know
Most of us would have never imagined traveling to outer space in our lives, but these days, it’s looking ever more possible for the average Joe to go into orbit—or at least, an average Joe with bags of money. This month, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic announced it is going public and is Read More...
NASA is helping build the first all-electric airplane fueled by hydrogen
The aviation industry is often heavily criticized, rightfully of course, for not doing enough to help save the environment. Now, in a quest to clean-up the heavily-polluting industry, NASA-funded scientists are working to develop an all-electric aircraft that produces no greenhouse-gas emissions. Read More...
You can help NASA by snapping photos of trees
NASA would like you to take a picture of a tree, please. The space agency’s ICESat-2 satellite estimates the height of trees from space, and NASA has created a new tool for citizen scientists that can help check those measurements from the ground. All it takes is a smartphone, the app, an Read More...
Scientists are gene-hacking bacteria to produce bullet-proof spider silk
Pound for pound, spider silk is much stronger than steel, and can be used in a variety of applications from bullet-proof clothing and biodegradable bottles to surgical thread and artificial tendons. The only problem is when you put enough spiders together to farm silk, they tend to eat each other. Read More...
NASA has scheduled the first-ever all-women spacewalk
On July 25, 1984, cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space. Now, almost 35 years later, history will once again be made as the first all-female spacewalk is scheduled to take place March 29. A total of 213 spacewalks have taken place since 1998, all of which have been Read More...
Newborn island in the South Pacific is now nurturing birds and flowers
Four years ago a volcanic eruption gave birth to one of the world’s youngest islands. But what was thought to be just another short-lived island that submarine volcanic eruptions tend to uplift now has its own flora and fauna. Dazzling pink flowering plants, sooty tern birds, and even barn owls Read More...
Nasa and Honda are pairing up to revolutionize the conventional battery
Scientists from Nasa and Honda are putting a joint effort to develop a new battery that could deliver up to 10 times the energy density of a conventional lithium-ion cell. The battery would be fluoride-based, would take fewer resources to manufacture, and wouldn’t pose a safety risk due to Read More...