Psyche was the Greek goddess of the soul, born a mere mortal and later married to Eros, the God of love. Who knows why the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis gave her name to a celestial object he observed one night in 1852? Psyche was only the 16th “asteroid” ever discovered: inhabitants of the Solar ...
For much of the 65,000 years of Australia’s human history, the now-submerged northwest continental shelf connected the Kimberley and western Arnhem Land. This vast, habitable realm covered nearly 390,000 square kilometers, an area one-and-a-half times larger than New Zealand is today. It was likely a single cultural zone, with similarities in ground stone-axe technology, styles ...
Baleen whales are the titans of the ocean, the largest animals to have ever lived. The record holder is the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), which can reach lengths of up to 30 metres. That’s longer than a basketball court. However, throughout their evolutionary history, most baleen whales were relatively much smaller, around five meters in ...
The Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis, present a mesmerizing display of lights, painting the sky with hues of pink and pale green. This natural phenomenon results from the collision of charged particles from the Sun with Earth’s atmosphere, creating unpredictable light forms like patches, arcs, and shooting beams. Witnessing the Northern Lights ...
Supermassive black holes reside in some of the biggest galaxies in the universe, and many emit radio waves. They tend to be billions of times more massive that our Sun, and not even light itself can escape a black hole once it gets too close. But it’s not all darkness. Supermassive black holes power some ...
Plagues have the power to topple the mightiest empires and disband the strongest armies. Seemingly impartial and ruthless, neither wealth nor power offer protection. Even a nation’s ruler can easily fall victim. Despite our advanced material and scientific civilization, we have not been immune to the indeterminate origins of current viral crises. However, plagues are ...
Like a shiny, round ornament ready to be placed in the perfect spot on a holiday tree, supernova remnant Cassiopeia A (Cas A) gleams in a new image from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. As part of the 2023 Holidays at the White House, First Lady of the United States Dr. Jill Biden debuted the first-ever ...
As an astronomer and meteor enthusiast, the Geminids make this the most wonderful time of the year. Each December sees the return of the Geminid meteor shower — the best natural fireworks display of the year — and people the world over head out to enjoy the show. This year promises to be extra special ...
In 1963, six years after the first satellite was launched, editors from the Encyclopaedia Britannica posed a question to five eminent thinkers of the day: “Has man’s conquest of space increased or diminished his stature?” The respondents were philosopher Hannah Arendt, writer Aldous Huxley, theologian Paul Tillich, nuclear scientist Harrison Brown, and historian Herbert J. ...
Online platforms are awash with ads for so-called “green” products. Power companies are “carbon neutral.” Electronics are “for the planet.” Clothing is “circular” and travel is “sustainable.” Or are they? Our study of more than 8,000 ads served more than 20,000 times in people’s Facebook feeds found many such claims are vague, meaningless, or unsubstantiated ...
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