Overemphasis on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius misses a key point, some experts say What’s in a number? The goals of the 2021 United Nations’ climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, called for nations to keep a warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius “within reach.” But when it comesContinue Reading
The Renaissance was a period of “rebirth” in arts, science and culture, and is typically thought to have originated in Italy. The Renaissance, which means “rebirth” in French, typically refers to a period in European history from A.D. 1400 to A.D. 1600. Many historians, however, assert that it started earlierContinue Reading
Laboratory experiments suggest that these worlds have especially gooey interiors Humble oxygen is more than just a building block of life. The element could also help scientists sneak a peek into the innards of planets orbiting faraway stars, a new study suggests. Laboratory experiments show that rocks exposed to higherContinue Reading
And how does mama clean it when it gets dirty? Although many marsupials raise their young in pouches — including opossums, Tasmanian devils and even koalas — kangaroos are almost certainly the most iconic. So what’s it like inside a kangaroo’s pouch? Think of the kangaroo’s pouch as a hoodieContinue Reading
Geologic processes nearer the surface, rather than deep-mantle plumes, may fuel activity there Some of the world’s volcanic hot spots may be fueled by molten material that originates surprisingly close to Earth’s surface. While some of the hottest spots are fueled by plumes of buoyant material welling up from deepContinue Reading
Saltwater spray could come from pockets of watery mush in the moon’s icy shell Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus sprays water vapor into space. Scientists have thought that the plumes come from a deep subsurface ocean — but that might not be the case, new simulations suggest. Instead, the waterContinue Reading
A massive line of vegetation in the Sahel may intensify the West African monsoon, simulations show Africa’s “Great Green Wall” initiative is a proposed 8,000-kilometer line of trees meant to hold back the Sahara from expanding southward. New climate simulations looking to both the region’s past and future suggest thisContinue Reading
New rovers started exploring the Red Planet while other missions launched to asteroids While a flurry of missions crowded around Mars this year, some lesser-explored parts of the solar system are about to get fresh eyes. Three countries visited the Red Planet in 2021, sending orbiters, landers, rovers and evenContinue Reading
The skeleton has been unearthed at Herculaneum. The skeleton of a man killed by the deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago has been unearthed from an ancient beach at Herculaneum — possibly as he ran in an attempt to escape the disaster. The man was killed justContinue Reading
A mysterious burst of extragalactic light appears to have spawned a small, compact object A cosmic flare-up called the Cow seems to have left behind a black hole or neutron star. When the flash was spotted in June 2018, astronomers debated its origins. Now, astrophysicist DJ Pasham of MIT andContinue Reading