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Lake Baikal: Earth’s deepest, oldest lake

Posted by in Earth | Human World | 2 months ago

Lake Baikal in southern Siberia is 25 million years old and more than 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) deep. More than 2,500 plant and animal species have been documented in the lake, most found nowhere else. Controversy surrounds construction of hydropower stations on a river that feeds the lake.

Did supernovae blasts prompt humans to walk upright?

Posted by in Human World | 2 months ago

A new study suggests a series of supernovae – peaking 2.6 million years ago – might have triggered earthly events that promoted proto-humans’ upright walking.
Sky chart showing Mars, Mercury and various stars and constellations in the west after sunset on June 1, 2019, with the addition of dozens of points representing SpaceX satellites.

How bright will the Starlink satellites be?

Posted by in Human World | Space | 2 months ago

Will Elon Musk’s plan to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites – aimed at bringing internet access to the world – interfere with astronomy? Astronomer Guy Ottewell ponders this question.
Photo showing the eyewall of Hurricane Michael

How do hurricanes get their names?

Posted by in Earth | Human World | 2 months ago

The World Meteorological Organization manages the formal system by which hurricanes receive their names. Find hurricane names for 2019 here.

It’s time for Manhattanhenge in NYC

Posted by in Human World | Today's Image | 2 months ago

Each year around May 29 and 30 – and again in early July – New Yorkers watch for Manhattanhenge, an alignment of the sunset along city streets. Fun!
Spacecraft in front of blue planet Earth

Clocks, gravity and the limits of relativity

Posted by in Human World | Space | 2 months ago

A hundred years ago today, Einstein’s theory of gravity was first put to the test when Arthur Eddington observed light “bending” around the sun during a solar eclipse. A century later, scientists are still searching for the limits of the theory.
Black silhouette of new moon, surrounded by solar corona, during a total solar eclipse.

Today in science: Einstein’s triumph

Posted by in Human World | Space | 2 months ago

May 29, 2019, is the 100th anniversary of a total solar eclipse, during which Sir Arthur Eddington observed the bending of light around the sun, thereby proving Einstein’s general relativity theory and catapulting Einstein into rock star fame.

Astronauts in spacesuits outside a spacecraft with blue Earth in the background.

Watch ISS spacewalk May 29

Posted by in Human World | Space | 2 months ago

Watch 2 Russian cosmonauts perform a spacewalk outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday, May 29.

Grey sharp-edged rocks of various sizes.

Help NASA decide where to land on asteroid

Posted by in Human World | Space | 2 months ago

Citizen scientists: NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission needs your help choosing its sample collection site on asteroid Bennu … and your extra eyes to look for whatever else might be interesting.

Image of rad planet Mars with a rectangular white ticket on top of it.

Send your name to Mars

Posted by in Human World | Space | 2 months ago

Want to send your name to Mars on NASA’s next rover mission in 2020? You’ll get your name etched on a microchip affixed to the rover – and a souvenir boarding pass. Here’s how.