The Milky Way’s forecast: mostly cloudy. But the origin of these cosmic clouds is unclear Beyond the bright swirling arms of our Milky Way galaxy, something enormous, mysterious and shadowy barrels toward us. It’s called Smith’s Cloud. And it isn’t like any cloud you’ve seen before. From head to tail, it extends more than 11,000 light-years. […]
Fast, mysterious clouds swarm around our galaxy Read More »
On a snowy night in 2021, four shivering scientists in Michigan set down their shovels and studied a hand-drawn map by flashlight. The map led to a secret location. They traveled in the dark so no one would spy where they were going. If they dug in the right place, they expected to find a
These ultra-long experiments outlive their scientists — on purpose Read More »
Seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station woke to unwelcome news on the morning of November 15, 2021. NASA, the U.S. space agency, was worried. The station was zooming directly into a suddenly dangerous area littered with trash. A collision could damage the spacecraft. And that could threaten the safety of everyone inside. NASA warned
Space trash could kill satellites, space stations — and astronauts Read More »
Chelsea Wood always wanted to be a marine biologist. As a child growing up on New York’s Long Island, she envisioned traveling the world, studying big animals that live in the ocean. “There was just never any question in my mind,” she says. Then, during college, she worked in a lab that focused on parasitic
Some ecologists value parasites — and now want a plan to save them Read More »
Bacteria can have superpowers. Some flourish in almost any environment. Others can transform toxic materials into harmless sludge. A bacterium called Shewanella oneidensis can do both. But this microbe also has a much rarer superpower: It absorbs and produces electricity. In fact, new research suggests, these bacteria may be able to use energy collected from wind or
Genes point to how some bacteria can gobble up electricity Read More »
Tanveer Adyel began to notice the trash in March. This was early in the COVID-19 pandemic. He saw latex gloves and blue, disposable masks littering his garden and street. Other types of personal protective equipment, or PPE, including face shields, were also among the trash. Soon, he spotted lots of thin plastic bags from grocery stores.
Unmasking the pandemic’s pollution problem Read More »
Last October, a team of marine explorers sent Hercules — a remote-controlled vehicle — to the bottom of the ocean. Its mission: to visit an octopus neighborhood. It was off the coast of central California, near an undersea volcano. Late one night, after scanning a long stretch of empty seafloor, Hercules’ spotlight and camera revealed a parade of
Whales get a second life as deep-sea buffets Read More »
Scientists in Michigan have developed a forest fire alarm system. It not only can detect when a blaze begins but also call for help. This battery-free device dangles like an ornament from a tree and harvests all the energy it needs from the natural swaying of branches. Such a sensor could watch the woods for
Trees power this alarm system for remote forest fires Read More »
Zhong Lin Wang started playing table tennis only four years ago. But last year, he and other researchers came up with a clever way to up their game: Build a smart table. Now they’ve just unveiled a prototype. It can measure where a ball lands, how fast the ball’s going and where it’s headed. The
A table tennis table that will up your game Read More »
Not every lightning strike is the same. Some skip from cloud to cloud. Others strike the ground, delivering a shocking wallop to anything that gets in the way. Lightning differs by how strong it is, too. Scientists have observed mega-strikes of lightning that carry 1,000 times more energy than ordinary bolts. They’re so intense that,
Hotspots for superbolts Read More »
