planet

Piyush Mehta, a doctoral student at the University of Delaware’s College of Earth, Ocean and Environment pictured here in Hansen, Idaho, served as the lead author on a paper that looked at how and where irrigated areas have expanded globally from 2000 to 2015 and whether that expansion has occurred in a sustainable or unsustainable fashion. Credit: Piyush Mehta/University of Delaware Of all the ways that humans consume water,…

Researchers have discovered significant amounts of water vapor in the disc around the young star HL Tauri, suggesting the presence of water where planets are forming. This breakthrough, enabled by the ALMA telescope in Chile, marks the first time astronomers have been able to quantify water vapor in a cool, stable disc conducive to planet formation. The findings could have profound implications for our understanding of how planets, particularly those capable of hosting life, are formed. (Artist’s concept.) Credit:…

For the ninth straight month, Earth has obliterated global heat records — with February, the winter as a whole and the world's oceans setting new high-temperature marks, according to the European Union climate agency Copernicus.The latest record-breaking in this climate change-fuelled global hot streak includes sea surface temperatures that weren't just the hottest for February, but eclipsed any month on record, soaring past August 2023's mark and still rising at the end of the month.And February, as well the previous two…

You may have heard the joke by now: "How do you organize a solar eclipse party? You planet."But you could also let someone plan it for you.And throughout the Hamilton-Niagara region — home to some of the best areas in Canada to see the total solar eclipse on April 8 — there are plenty of options.That day, people across the continent will see the moon pass between the sun and the Earth. In some places, it will partially block out the sun. But in others — including Hamilton, Burlington, Ont., Six Nations, Ont., and the…

Researchers using the ALMA observatory have detected water vapor in the disc around a young star, in a region where planets are likely forming. This discovery is pivotal because water is vital for life and plays a crucial role in planet formation. The findings reveal a substantial amount of water, suggesting its potential impact on the chemical composition of emerging planets. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.comWater vapor has been discovered in a planet-forming disc around a young star, revealing conditions…

Changing Car Culture Can Benefit Our Health and Our PlanetWe need to rethink the American love affair with the automobile and redesign cities to reduce car pollutionBy The Editors Anthropologist Daniel Miller has observed that an alien visiting Earth might well suppose that four-wheeled creatures run the planet. These rulers, he notes, are “served by a host of slaves who walk on legs and spend their whole lives serving them.” He meant this as a joke, but the punch line comes at the expense of American car culture. In the…

Light is reflected on part of the Aral Sea outside Muynak, Uzbekistan, June 25, 2023. Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA believe if they can inject ice high up in the air, water vapor, water in its gas form, in the upper atmosphere would get a bit drier and that could cool Earth. Credit: AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File Government scientists have cooked up a new concept for how to…

Water vapour — water in its gas form — is a natural greenhouse gas that traps heat, just like carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil and gas. So, researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA figure if they can just inject ice high up in the air, water vapour in the upper atmosphere would get a bit drier and that could counteract a small amount of the human-caused warmth. It's just the spark of an initial idea, said the lead author of a study in…

The dastardly deeds of a dead star have been discovered by an intrepid team of cosmic detectives.A white dwarf star that devoured at least a chunk of one of its planets has been betrayed by a scar of vaporized metal marring it surface – the tell-tale remnants of the planet that once orbited the star before spiraling into its doom.What makes it even more interesting is that rather than spreading out across the surface of the star, the material was localized to one place. It's a discovery that helps necroplanetologists…

Astronomers found a new moon orbiting Uranus, as well as two around Neptune. The tiny satellites appeared as faint specks in the outer reaches of the solar system following hours of ground-based observations.Dave Bautista Opens Up About His Relationship With Denis VilleneuveUsing observatories in Chile and Hawaii, Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science, first spotted the Uranian moon on November 4, 2023 and the two previously unknown Neptunian moons in September 2021. “The three newly…