boiling

In a groundbreaking discovery, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed intriguing details about a distant exoplanet, sparking a debate among scientists about its potential habitability. The exoplanet, known as TOI-270 d, lies approximately 70 light-years away and boasts twice the radius of Earth.Observations from the James Webb Space Telescope exposed the presence of water vapour, methane, and carbon dioxide in the exoplanet's atmosphere, suggesting a composition consistent with a colossal water world.…

Bouncing Bubbles Boost BoilingA new surface uses tiny gaps to supercharge bubble formation to transfer heatBy Rachel Berkowitz Credit: Vsevolod Vlasenko/Getty ImagesBubbles rising through boiling water are among nature's best tools for carrying excess heat away from a surface. And now there's a better way to boil: make tinier, speedier bubbles that work in pairs.It won't help you make a cup of tea faster. But a new microstructured surface, created by Virginia Tech engineer Jonathan Boreyko and his colleagues to produce…

In an effort to reduce the spread of marine invasive species, Canada ordered lobster pounds to euthanize all egg-bearing female lobsters. But two years after the measure was introduced, some in the business are still unaware of the requirement.The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has banned the long-held practice of releasing egg-bearing or "berried" female lobsters when they are discovered in holding facilities.Instead pounds "must immediately euthanize the lobster," according to licence conditions quietly introduced…

UN Secretary-General Antonio…

This story was originally published in Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.In a warming world, summer is one of the most dangerous times.Despite relatively cool temperatures in Southern California recently, we’re entering the hottest part of the year here and across the West. Los Angeles is launching an awareness campaign about the health hazards of extreme heat, my colleague Hayley Smith reports, following an L.A. Times investigation that found state…

This is the May 23, 2023, edition of Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about the environment across California and the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. Happy Tuesday! It’s Rosanna Xia, coastal reporter for the Los Angeles Times, filling in this week for Sammy Roth.It’s not easy being a California condor, a majestic (and quite giant) bird that has come to symbolize both a species on the brink of extinction and the hope we still have for the future.There are wind turbines to avoid and lead poisoning…

This story was originally published in Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.After 10 days in Idaho, I’m grateful to be back home.But man, did I learn and see some amazing stuff in the Gem State.Despite its conservative reputation, Idaho has a history of environmental action. A memorial outside the state Capitol celebrates the conservation legacy of Gov. Cecil Andrus, who helped protect tens of millions of acres in Idaho and across the country. And as I…

This story originally published in Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.It’s been raining like crazy in Los Angeles. I’ve lived here most of my life, and I can’t remember the last time so much water poured from the sky for so long, battering the windows of my apartment and filling the L.A. River and greening the hillsides. When it dried off long enough for me to get outside on Sunday afternoon, Will Rogers State Historic Park in the Santa Monica…

This story originally published in Boiling Point, a weekly newsletter about climate change and the environment. Sign up here to get it in your inbox.There’s this concept called “social license to operate,” which basically refers to an industry being seen by the public as legitimate or acceptable. As climate scientists have increasingly found that new coal, oil and gas projects are incompatible with a safe planet, fossil fuel companies have looked for way to affirm their social license, by promoting the idea that they’re…

Former Blizzard director Jay Wilson has said that Activision’s effect on the company was “like a frog in a boiling pot of water”. READ MORE: What the hell has happened at Activision and why should you care? Wilson, who worked on Diablo 3 and the Warhammer series, was speaking at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo recently about the closure of Blizzard North in 2005. The video game studio, originally founded as an independent firm by Diablo creator David Brevik, was one of very few studios that was able to effectively work…