Dec 20 Bigger and more powerful than the Hubble, NASA's new telescope will see the "awe-inspiring" By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press The $10 billion successor to the Hubble Space Telescope is about to take flight. NASA is entrusting the launch of the world's biggest and most powerful space observatory to its European partners. Continue reading
Dec 16 What too much artificial light steals from our night skies By Isabella Isaacs-Thomas Advocates emphasize that, compared to many other types of pollution plaguing our planet, addressing excessive lighting is relatively straightforward. Continue reading
Dec 15 States volunteer to take more cuts in Colorado River water By Brittany Peterson, Felicia Fonseca, Associated Press Water leaders in California, Arizona and Nevada have signed an agreement to further reduce their take of Colorado River water to help stave off wider, mandatory cuts in the future. Continue reading
Dec 14 How climate change exacerbates conditions that can spawn lethal tornadoes By John Allen, The Conversation Climate models can’t see tornadoes yet, but they can recognize the conditions for tornadoes to form. An atmospheric scientist explains what that means for forecasting future risks. Continue reading
Dec 08 Biden order would make U.S. government carbon neutral by 2050 By Matthew Daly, Associated Press The White House says the order shows how the U.S. government will "leverage its scale and procurement power to lead by example in tackling the climate crisis."… Continue reading
Dec 03 Meet Rosalind Franklin, a sidelined figure in the history of DNA science By Molly Finnegan In "The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and the Discovery of DNA's Double Helix," Dr. Howard Markel tells the complicated tale of what he calls one of the most egregious rip-offs in the history of science. Continue reading
Nov 26 Watch 7:21 Unrelenting drought leaves millions who rely on Colorado River facing an uncertain future By Miles O'Brien, Kate Tobin The Colorado River is a critical resource for the western U.S. But a megadrought, one significantly exacerbated by climate change, is jeopardizing the river's future and threatening to upend how its water is used and longstanding agreements between states. Miles… Continue watching
Nov 24 Watch 5:26 Can asteroids be veered away from Earth? New NASA spacecraft aims to find out By Miles O'Brien, Ryan Connelly Holmes NASA has launched a satellite into orbit on a mission to smash itself into an asteroid, in a test to see whether it is possible to knock a speeding space rock off course — if one were on a collision… Continue watching
Nov 24 5 global climate actions to watch for in 2022 By Rachel Kyte, The Conversation The world promised progress at the COP26 Glasgow climate conference. Now, it has to turn those promises into reality. A former senior UN official describes what to watch for in the coming year. Continue reading
Nov 20 Wildfires torched up to a fifth of all giant sequoia trees By Brian Melley, Associated Press Lightning-sparked wildfires killed thousands of giant sequoias this year, leading to a staggering two-year death toll that accounts for up to nearly a fifth of Earth’s largest trees, officials said Friday. Continue reading