So how do you think our home planet would appear to someone from another world? It was not until this century, on May 8, 2003, that we had our first glimpse of what that would look like when the Mars Global Surveyor snapped a photo of Earth with our Moon from its orbit around [...]
This enhanced satellite image shows the current extent of the Arctic Ice Cap (August 25, 2008). It is now 220,000 square miles larger than 2007’s lowest extent which was the smallest the ice cap had ever reached. (Image: National Snow and Ice Data Center)
The following NASA video is a prelude to the following article on Space Trash. It is described from an astronaut’s point view during Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) in space. Just click on the link to view the brief video.
Video: Harsh Space Environment (NASA)
The space surrounding Earth is becoming a giant landfill… or shall we call it spacefill? Space junk - also known as space trash or debris - floats throughout our solar system at extraordinary speeds, most reaching 17,000-plus miles per hour.
In the past 50-plus years of space exploration, we have generated a vast wasteland of junk in [...]
Science is an art of exploration. The dedication of the explorers is sometimes directed by other discoveries, a chance encounter or simply just the pure serendipity of a crazy idea.
The effects of global warming started to be a concern for scientists during the early 1960s. Acid rain was the environmental issue of the day and [...]
They are called “dead zones”, increasingly large areas of coastal ocean that can no longer support life.
Fishermen off the shores of Oregon report that more amounts of dead rockfish, crabs and other bottom fish have been appearing in their nets and along the coast line.
There is a huge plastic waste dump site in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of the continental United States.
It is estimated that 10 percent of the world’s plastic waste finds its way into the sea and slowly but surely most of it ends up in the Pacific Ocean.
Scientists have taken the childhood pastime of flying kites to new heights in search of renewable power.
Wind farm turbine windmills stand 80 meters high and deal with winds that average 5 kilometers a minute. Winds 800 meters above the earth average 7 Km a minute, a substantial increase, but it would be impractical to build [...]
Tourists had to be evacuated by helicopter from one of Canada’s major Arctic parks as abnormal temperatures caused severe flooding, washing away hiking trails and a bridge.
“We lost huge proportions of what was formerly the trail in the park. It’s disappeared - gone,” said Pauline Scott, speaking for Parks Canada.
Not only is the Arctic ice cap shrinking, it is shrinking at a pace that places its disappearance two to three decades ahead of the gloomiest previous forecasts.
It is now generally predicted that the Arctic ice cap will totally disappear in 20 - 25 years, leaving the Arctic Ocean totally free of summer ice as [...]
