Most recent 40 articles: VOX - Science
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You might have another chance to see the northern lights tonight - VOX - Science (May 14, 2024) |
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May 14, 2024 · Why we’ve been seeing such dramatic displays in our night skies.
The stunning green and purple auroras that sparkled in the night across the continental United States this week are the latest entry in a rambunctious year for space weather. Forecasters expect more shimmering skies tonight as high-energy particles from the sun collide with the Earth’s magnetic field.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center issued a geomagnetic storm watch for May 14, 2024, noting that the storm could reach G2, or moderate, strength. That’s where power systems at high latitudes could set off high-voltage alarms and spacecraft may need to make adjustments to stay aloft. The wave of solar wind ... Read more ...
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We could be heading into the hottest summer of our lives - VOX - Science (Apr 27, 2024) |
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Apr 27, 2024 · High temperatures across the US have the potential to increase risks for drought, wildfires, and hurricanes.
The United States could be in for another scorcher this summer, per a new study from the National Weather Service (NWS). And that could mean more extreme weather events - as well as heightened health concerns.
The NWS outlook, released this month, found that many parts of the US - including New England and the Southwest - are likely to have higher than average temperatures from June through August. In recent years, hotter summer temperatures have been driven by climate change and, in some cases, the arrival of a climate pattern known as La Niña, which contributes ... Read more ...
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The terrifying and awesome power of solar eclipses - VOX - Science (Apr 08, 2024) |
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Apr 08, 2024 · Eclipses inspire awe, create opportunities for science - and cause angst among energy-grid operators.
Today, millions of people will gather to marvel at the total solar eclipse.
The awe that eclipses inspire is profound. “You suddenly feel as though you can see the clockwork of the solar system. Where you think you lived doesn’t look like the same place anymore,” Ernie Wright, who creates data visualizations and eclipse maps for NASA, told Vox.
“We kind of know - in the back of our minds - that we live in a giant ball and it revolves around a hot ball of gas, and we’re floating in space. But you don’t really believe it until you see something like a total solar ... Read more ...
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When is the next total solar eclipse? - VOX - Science (Apr 08, 2024) |
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Apr 08, 2024 · Don’t worry if you missed the 2024 eclipse. There will be more.
Total solar eclipses like the one crossing America today are beautiful, but they’re fleeting. Totality, when the sun is completely covered by the moon, lasts just a few minutes. And the whole thing - from the start of the partial eclipse to the end - takes just a few hours. The experience is sublime, but it’ll leave you wanting more.
Here’s the good news: Total solar eclipses happen somewhere in the world about every 18 months. That’s how long it takes for the specific conditions that create eclipses (the phases of the moon, the distance of the moon to Earth, and the moon crossing the plane of Earth’s orbit) ... Read more ...
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She’s been chasing solar eclipses for three decades. What’s she after? - VOX - Science (Apr 04, 2024) |
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Apr 04, 2024 · This scientist has seen nearly 20 solar eclipses. She’s trying to solve a mystery that could help protect Earth.
On Monday, April 8, millions of people will get to see the Great North American Eclipse. Most people on the continent will see a partial solar eclipse, the sun gradually getting smaller as the moon passes in front of it.
But if you’re in exactly the right place - along the narrow path of totality that runs from Mexico to Indianapolis to Montreal - the moon is going to line up directly in front of the sun and completely block it out.
“When it happens, it feels like magic. It feels supernatural,” says Shadia Habbal, a professor of solar physics at the ... Read more ...
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Everything you need to know about the 2024 solar eclipse - VOX - Science (Apr 03, 2024) |
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Apr 03, 2024 · From why this year is so special to tips for watching, we’ve got you covered.
Millions of Americans in the United States will be able to see a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. It will be the last chance for those in the lower 48 states to see one for 21 years. Even if you can’t get to the path of totality, which is where the moon’s shadow covers the sun, you’ll at least see a partial solar eclipse over the course of the day.
So - if you’re wondering how you can witness what some folks call a life-changing event to why they happen in the first place, follow along here for answers to all of your questions and more.
Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a ... Read more ...
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Why you absolutely cannot stare at the sun without eclipse glasses - VOX - Science (Apr 03, 2024) |
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Apr 03, 2024 · Yes, solar eclipses can blind you. Here’s how to protect your eyes.
When the total solar eclipse comes to the United States on April 8, there is one rule you must remember: Never stare directly into the sun. Even when the sun is partially obscured by the moon, its rays are still strong enough to permanently damage your eyesight. The only time to look upon the eclipse without glasses is when the sun is fully covered by the moon during totality, which only will last three or four minutes, depending where you are. If you are not in the narrow path of the totality, spanning from Texas to Maine in the United States, this will not be an option for you.
To look at the sun ... Read more ...
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The total solar eclipse is returning to the United States - better than before - VOX - Science (Mar 22, 2024) |
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Mar 22, 2024 · This will be the last total solar eclipse over the contiguous United States for 21 years. Don’t miss it!
On April 8, 2024, millions of Americans will be able to see a rare celestial occurrence: a total solar eclipse.
It’s going to be awesome. If you’re in the center of the moon’s shadow, known as the totality, the sky will go dark for a few minutes in the middle of the day. The temperature will drop, stars will appear, and birds will become confused and start chirping their nighttime songs.
And it’s all because of a cosmic coincidence: From the Earth, the moon and the sun appear to be roughly the same size.
By many measures, April’s event will (please excuse ... Read more ...
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Are we breaking the Atlantic Ocean? - VOX - Science (Mar 13, 2024) |
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Mar 13, 2024 · The climate change scenario that could chill parts of the world, explained.
Of all the potential consequences of global warming, one of the most unexpected is that temperatures in some parts of the world could plummet.
A recent paper in Science Advances outlined a scenario where, given enough ice melting into the North Atlantic, average temperatures in cities like Bergen, Norway, could drop 15 degrees Celsius (a bone-chilling dip of 27 degrees in Fahrenheit). London could drop around 10°C (18°F).
But not only would temperatures in Europe plummet, the change would trigger a climate tipping point, generating cascading effects around the world. There would be more ... Read more ...
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Why did geologists reject the “Anthropocene” epoch? It’s not rock science. - VOX - Science (Mar 07, 2024) |
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Mar 07, 2024 · The battle proves that time is political, any way you cut it.
Scientists dealt a resounding blow this week in a long-running fight over one big question: Have humans messed up the Earth so badly that we’re now living in a new climate epoch?
For 15 years, an intrepid band of geologists has been trying to argue exactly that. They claimed that humanity has ushered in the Anthropocene, a new chapter in the Earth’s history borne of our impact on the planet. And they hunted all around the globe for proof.
But it’s not easy to make the case that we’re in a new epoch. That’s a technical term that describes a chunk of time typically lasting a few million years (sounds like ... Read more ...
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Scientists strapped cameras to a bunch of polar bears. The footage is breathtaking - and alarming. - VOX - Science (Feb 13, 2024) |
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Feb 13, 2024 · As the Arctic warms, these iconic bears are spending more time on land. New videos reveal why that’s a problem.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
Global warming is famously bad for polar bears. The reason is simple: Sea ice provides a platform from which these hulking predators can hunt seals, their primary food source. And climate change is dramatically shrinking the number of weeks each year that the Arctic oceans are covered in ice. As a result, polar bears are spending more time on land, where calorie-dense food is far less accessible.
What that means for the survival of these iconic creatures, however, has been something of a mystery. Can they cope with life ... Read more ...
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How California’s torrential, life-threatening storms got so bad - VOX - Science (Feb 06, 2024) |
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Feb 06, 2024 · Back-to-back atmospheric rivers have triggered floods, snowstorms, and power outages in the Golden State.
A brutal winter storm is battering the West Coast with torrential downpours in the south, blizzards in the north, and winds gusting up to 160 miles per hour.
The severe weather has killed at least three people. California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency on Sunday for eight counties in the southern part of the state. The 14 million residents of the region are facing a high risk of excessive rainfall. Further north, more than 150,000 electricity customers lost power as of Tuesday morning.
And more severe weather is in store: The National Weather ... Read more ...
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The sun’s poles are about to flip. It’s awesome - and slightly terrifying. - VOX - Science (Jan 31, 2024) |
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Jan 31, 2024 · The sun is growing feistier. Great news for aurora watchers. Bad news for communication satellites.
The sun is getting ready to flip.
Every 11 or so years, the sun undergoes an epic transformation: its magnetic poles reverse. Like on Earth, the sun has a magnetic North and a magnetic South. But unlike Earth, whose poles flip on the order of hundreds of thousands of years, the sun’s shuffle is a regular occurrence. The sun’s poles last reversed in 2013. So we’re just about due - likely starting some time this year.
The solar poles flipping is not, as it might sound, the sign of impending apocalypse. You won’t notice it when it happens. The solar cycle only minorly ... Read more ...
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America is retreating from global health leadership at the worst possible time - VOX - Science (Jan 15, 2024) |
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Jan 15, 2024 · Covid politicized public health. Now, the US might give up on saving millions of lives.
Two decades ago, the United States led the establishment of a new global public health order that began with the fight against a devastating HIV epidemic in Africa. The initiative’s success solidified America’s role as the world’s biggest funder of global health programs and the most influential actor in coordinating global efforts to combat infectious diseases. Though the American-led push to fight AIDS does not draw much domestic attention, it is perhaps the single-most impactful US government program ever, saving 25 million lives over the past 20 years.
Global health is necessarily ... Read more ...
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Missing the feeling of a white Christmas? That might be solastalgia. - VOX - Science (Dec 21, 2023) |
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Dec 21, 2023 · A snowy winter in New York City brings with it a kind of magic. The air goes crisp, then bitter, and fragile snowflakes sift down in the early dark, silvering the trees and blanketing the sledding hills in the parks. After the first big snow, children and adults alike rush out to make snowmen, creations that delight passersby for the next two frigid months, until the snow finally thaws. When I took my older son, then a toddler, out for his first-ever sledding session, he squealed with awe at the crystalline world before him, shouting, “It looks like Frozen!”
Today he’s 5, and I doubt he remembers what sledding feels like. It’s been more than 650 days since Central Park, where ... Read more ...
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Big Wool wants you to believe it’s nice to animals and the environment. It’s not. - VOX - Science (Dec 21, 2023) |
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Dec 21, 2023 · Wool’s cozy image masks a polluting, violent reality.
We’ve been banging this drum at Future Perfect for a long time: Animal agriculture is terrible not just for animals, but also for the planet. And despite the meat industry’s ferocious greenwashing efforts, that message is finally, if haltingly, breaking into mainstream climate discourse.
But there’s one big domain of livestock production that is often seen as exempt from the hard trade-offs of farming animals for human consumption: animals raised for clothing, like the more than 1.2 billion sheep farmed for wool, or the tens of millions of cows whose skin is processed into leather. Both species, as ruminants, emit ... Read more ...
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An oil executive is leading the UN climate summit. It’s going as well as you’d expect. - VOX - Science (Dec 04, 2023) |
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Dec 04, 2023 · The head of COP28 is facing widespread backlash for his comments on fossil fuels.
As the United Nations’ annual climate summit COP28 continues, controversial comments by Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, the head of the conference, are roiling the event and raising questions about how substantive any new fossil fuel agreement emerging from the gathering will be.
In a meeting one week before the conference, Jaber - who is the United Arab Emirates minister of industry and advanced technology as well as the chairman of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company - told a panel he believed there was no science to suggest eliminating fossil fuels would help keep global temperature increases ... Read more ...
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Something weird happens when you keep squeezing - VOX - Science (Nov 15, 2023) |
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Nov 15, 2023 · Under extreme pressures, matter defies the rules of physics as we know it.
Physicists have a pretty good handle on how stuff behaves on the surface of the Earth. But a lot of matter in the universe exists outside this narrow band of relatively low temperatures and pressures. Inside planets and stars, the crushing force of gravity begins to overwhelm the electromagnetic and nuclear forces that keep atoms apart and maintain the shapes of molecules.
What happens next? Scientists (including a consortium of researchers at the National Science Foundation’s Center for Matter at Atomic Pressures??) are just starting to figure that out. They use a variety of tools (including some ... Read more ...
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It’s not just Paris. There’s a “global resurgence” of bedbugs. - VOX - Science (Oct 15, 2023) |
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Oct 15, 2023 · It’s a bedbug’s world now. We’re just sleeping in it.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
On a brisk morning last month, the deputy mayor of Paris, Emmanuel Grégoire, stood in front of a French TV camera with a serious look on his face and said: “No one is safe.”
He wasn’t talking about the threat of climate change or some frightening new virus. He was talking about bedbugs.
For the blissfully unaware, bedbugs are small wingless insects that bite humans and feast on our blood, often at night. They find us by sensing the carbon dioxide in our breath and our body heat. While bedbugs can carry a large number of pathogens, they don’t seem to transmit diseases to ... Read more ...
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A rare “ring of fire” eclipse is happening Saturday - VOX - Science (Oct 13, 2023) |
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Oct 13, 2023 · Here’s why it’s happening - and how to watch.
On Saturday, October 14, the moon will pass directly between the Earth and the sun, casting its shadow across Earth’s surface.
Those in the path of the shadow - mainly in the Western United States, Mexico, and in Central and South America - will be able to look up and see a spectacular event: an annular “ring of fire” solar eclipse.
This weekend’s path notably passes through the Navajo Nation and lands of other Indigenous people in the Four Corners region where these celestial events have particular cultural significance. Citizens of the Navajo Nation, the Diné people, avoid going outside, looking at the eclipse, or ... Read more ...
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Mud libraries hold the story of the Earth’s climate past - and foretell its future - VOX - Science (Oct 10, 2023) |
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Oct 10, 2023 · Mud can be surprisingly clear.
Tucked away in the rolling green hills of the New York Palisades, there’s an unusual library: the Lamont-Doherty Core Repository. Instead of shelves, it has more than 50,000 white, 8-foot-long trays. And instead of books, those trays hold chalky whitish half-cylinders of sediment.
“It’s a mud library,” says Nichole Anest, the lab’s curator and self-described “mud librarian.”
These sections of mud, known to scientists as marine sediment cores, are special because they contain Earth’s history, written in the language of minerals and microscopic shells.
Most critically, tubes of mud like these are “the backbone of climate science,” ... Read more ...
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It’s clearer than ever that we’re pushing the Amazon rainforest to its dreaded demise - VOX - Science (Oct 08, 2023) |
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Oct 08, 2023 · Human survival depends on this iconic ecosystem, and only one thing will save it.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
No matter where you live on this planet, you need the Amazon rainforest.
The largest tropical forest on Earth, the Amazon stores more than 120 billion tons of carbon, which - if unleashed into the atmosphere - would supercharge climate change. It’s also home to a mind-boggling number of plant and animal species, many of which have served as the basis for medicines to fight ailments like cancer and hypertension.
That’s what makes this so alarming: The Amazon forest is dying. Decades of deforestation, wildfires, and rising temperatures are ... Read more ...
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A NASA asteroid sample just landed on Earth. It holds clues about the origins of life. - VOX - Science (Sep 24, 2023) |
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Sep 24, 2023 · The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft arrived in Utah Sunday, carrying material from the dawn of the solar system.
A capsule bearing soil from an asteroid located 200 million miles from Earth landed in Utah at 8:52 am Mountain time Sunday, bringing with it - scientists hope - information about the origin of life.
The NASA spacecraft OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer, delivered a sample of material from the asteroid Bennu. The space rock is estimated to be around 4.5 billion years old - meaning it formed around the same time as the solar system and likely holds pre-solar material, as well as amino acids, ... Read more ...
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Devastating photos reveal how an extreme heat wave is wrecking Florida’s coral reef - VOX - Science (Sep 21, 2023) |
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Sep 21, 2023 · The image above was taken at a coral reef in Florida called Pickles in the spring of 2022.
Here’s how that same reef looked earlier this month:
The difference between the two images tells a clear story: Coral in the Florida Keys, home to the largest reef in the continental US, is dying. The ghostly white appearance of the coral above is due to a phenomenon known as bleaching. Coral, an anemone-like marine animal, gets most of its color and food from a kind of algae that lives within its tissue. When that algae disappears, the coral appears stark white. Bleached corals aren’t dead; they are starving to death.
What happened between those two snapshots is extreme and ... Read more ...
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America’s most iconic coral reef is dying. Only one thing will save it. - VOX - Science (Sep 17, 2023) |
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Sep 17, 2023 · An extreme heat wave has pushed Florida’s reef to the brink - and burned up years worth of progress.
PICKLES REEF, FLORIDA - As soon as our boat reached the reef, the problem appeared. Looking down through the clear, turquoise water, I saw a handful of stark white patches on the seafloor, some 20 feet below.
I strapped on a tank, leapt into the ocean, and sank down near one of them. It was a large cluster of elkhorn coral, a threatened species that looks a bit like studded moose antlers sprouting from the reef. Normally, elkhorn is a vibrant, golden brown. Here it was bone white, a sunken skeleton.
As I cruised along Pickles Reef, which isn’t far from Key Largo, ... Read more ...
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There is no end to disaster season anymore - VOX - Science (Sep 13, 2023) |
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Sep 13, 2023 · An extraordinary autumn is expected after a record-smashing summer.
The wave of unusual disasters this summer now includes Hurricane Lee, a storm that swelled from Category 1 to Category 5 in just 24 hours as it barreled toward Canada. It’s a prime example of rapid intensification made worse by warming ocean temperatures.
It will add to what’s already been an exceptional year of extreme weather. The US has set a new record for the number of billion-dollar disasters in a year - 23 so far - in its history, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). And this doesn’t even include the costs from Tropical Storm Hilary in California or from the ... Read more ...
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Wildfires are coming... for New Jersey? - VOX - Science (Sep 12, 2023) |
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Sep 12, 2023 · Climate change is expanding the list of areas at risk for the worst wildfires.
All a wildfire needs is oxygen, an ignition to spark it, and fuel to burn. Its crackling embers and flickering flames don’t know the difference between the California foothills, where residents are used to fire, and more unexpected locales, like the New Jersey coastline, the Florida peninsula, or the slopes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As the immense destruction of the fire in Lahaina, Maui, continues to unfold, experts who study wildfires say the blaze fits a disturbing pattern of fires in the wildland-urban interface, where people and homes mingle with burnable vegetation. “Every single state in ... Read more ...
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How cars ruin wild animals’ lives - VOX - Science (Sep 12, 2023) |
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Sep 12, 2023 · If you love nature, consider not driving in it.
At Future Perfect, we cover some of the greatest threats to life and well-being on Earth. For non-human animals, that usually means factory farming, which kills nearly 10 billion land vertebrates annually in the US alone.
But you might be surprised by another top human-caused killer of land animals, which may be second only to factory farming, although precise estimates are hard to come by: not hunting, or animal testing, or the fur industry. It’s cars.
When I first read about the horrifyingly high numbers of animals killed by cars, in a paper on roadkill by sociologist Dennis Soron, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. ... Read more ...
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How sharks avoid the wrath of an extreme hurricane - VOX - Science (Aug 31, 2023) |
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Aug 31, 2023 · These marine predators have a few clever tricks to survive storms like Idalia.
The biodiversity crisis, explained
Hurricane Idalia pummeled Florida on Wednesday morning as it made landfall as a powerful Category 3 storm. Idalia, now a tropical storm off the coast of South Carolina, flooded homes and highways, downed power lines, blew out windows, and has so far been linked to at least one traffic-related fatality in Florida.
Humans have a number of strategies to withstand the impacts of major storms. We fortify our homes, ready flashlights and generators, and, if necessary, evacuate to higher ground. Yet we remain highly vulnerable to storm impacts, as Idalia, Ian, ... Read more ...
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There’s been a shift in how we think about climate change - VOX - Science (Aug 31, 2023) |
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Aug 31, 2023 · A climate psychologist explains how we’ve moved beyond hope, anger, and complacency toward something more promising.
Our actions today will determine just how bad climate change will become. But which emotions best drive a person to become politically active? Hope? Anger? Persevering through complacency? What if the fundamental challenge is actually our attention?
This last question gets at a particular theory in psychology that has undergone a revolution in the past few years. It’s a hypothesis called the “finite pool of worry,” coined in 2006 by Elke Weber, a psychologist and Princeton University professor. It states that people can only handle so many negative events ... Read more ...
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How Louisiana - one of the nation’s wettest states - caught on fire - VOX - Science (Aug 30, 2023) |
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Aug 30, 2023 · Even traditionally wet states are experiencing unprecedented wildfires.
An unprecedented series of wildfires is burning in Louisiana, making it the latest state to navigate a major natural disaster in recent months. Wildfires - though they take place in the state annually - aren’t typically as frequent or as big as they have been this year.
Much like other places, Louisiana is experiencing record-breaking heat and dryness, which have made it easier for wildfires to proliferate. Both issues are likely being made worse by climate change, which contributes to higher temperatures and drier vegetation. And what we’re witnessing this year is likely just the start: According to ... Read more ...
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Hurricane Hilary soaked an already wet California. Is the drought over? - VOX - Science (Aug 22, 2023) |
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Aug 22, 2023 · After years of extreme drought, the Western US has finally caught a break. But it may be a short one.
Less than a year ago, California was facing an epic drought. With reservoirs running dry and rivers shrinking, the state, and much of the broader American West, was facing steep, highly consequential water cuts. Some farmers let their fields lie fallow. Cities implemented water restrictions. And the threat of even deeper cuts loomed.
Then came a winter of rain and snow that inundated central California.
And then came Hurricane Hilary.
The first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years, Hilary brought record quantities of rain to desert cities ... | By April, California’s snowpack was double the average. By May, only a small fraction of the state was in a moderate drought. Read more ...
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What we know about the wildfires in Hawaii - VOX - Science (Aug 18, 2023) |
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Aug 18, 2023 · The wildfires that have been engulfing parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui since Tuesday, August 8, have killed at least 111 people in what is the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century. The blaze has destroyed more than 2,000 structures, forced residents to seek safety in the ocean, and prompted thousands of residents and tourists to evacuate. Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier estimated that over 1,000 people remain missing.
“We have suffered a terrible disaster,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said.
Wildfires were once rare on the Hawaiian Islands, largely ignited by volcanic eruptions and dry lightning strikes, but human activity in recent decades has made them ... Read more ...
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Hawaii could burn again. How can the government prepare? - VOX - Science (Aug 18, 2023) |
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Aug 18, 2023 · A Hawaii resiliency expert on climate disasters, FEMA’s role in wildfire response, and the future of Big Oil lawsuits.
President Joe Biden’s disaster declaration came within hours of the wildfires that tore through Lahaina, Maui, last week, where the death toll is at least 111 and a thousand people may still be missing. The disaster declaration helped unlock federal aid for Maui, adding to Hawaii’s emergency stores another 50,000 meals, 10,000 blankets, and $700 cash for survivors in the immediate aftermath.
But questions around the response at every level of government continue to mount. Many of the disaster’s survivors have said the assistance was slow to arrive, ... Read more ...
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9 things everyone should know about Maui’s wildfire disaster - VOX - Science (Aug 14, 2023) |
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Aug 14, 2023 · Including how you can help.
The outbreak of wildfires last week in Maui, Hawaii - a state known for its beaches and rainforests but typically not fire - is now the nation’s deadliest such event in more than 100 years. The fires burned thousands of acres and killed nearly 100 people, a greater death toll than any wildfire in California, where summer blazes are common. Hundreds remain missing in Maui, and the death toll is expected to rise.
“This is the largest natural disaster in our history,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said, referring to Hawaii, in a statement Sunday. “It is a harrowing site in Maui.”
Images show that much of Lahaina, a historic town on Maui’s west ... Read more ...
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How should we remember Trinity Site, where the first nuclear bomb was tested? - VOX - Science (Aug 11, 2023) |
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Aug 11, 2023 · Oppenheimer’s Trinity Site is where the end began.
To reach the spot where the nuclear age was born and human history swung, turn off of Route 380 at Stallion Gate on the northern edge of the US Army’s White Sands Missile Range, not far from the tiny desert town of Socorro, New Mexico. Drive through the flat, dry, empty scrub the Spanish called Jornada del Muerto, or the Journey of Death, ringed at the horizon by the Sierra Oscura, the Dark Mountains.
After 17 miles or so you’ll reach a vast parking lot that stands largely empty much of the year. Walk past a mangled 200-ton steel tube called Jumbo, and stand before a stone obelisk mined from nearby volcanic rock. The ... Read more ...
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How Maui’s wildfires became so apocalyptic - VOX - Science (Aug 09, 2023) |
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Aug 09, 2023 · A large hurricane, drought, and perhaps even invasive grasses are fueling devastating fires in Hawaii.
This week, several wildfires have engulfed parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui in flames, killing several people, burning multiple homes and businesses, and forcing more than a dozen people to flee into the ocean for safety.
Numerous fires - which have so far burned hundreds of acres in Hawaii - have scorched parts of Lahaina, the largest city on the west side of the island, all but destroying a popular tourist strip. Hospitals are overrun with burn patients, thousands of people have lost power, and as of Wednesday morning, 911 service was down.
“We have suffered ... Read more ...
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How Maui’s wildfires became so apocalyptic - VOX - Science (Aug 09, 2023) |
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Aug 09, 2023 · A large hurricane, drought, and perhaps even invasive grasses have fueled the devastating fires in Hawaii.
Earlier this week several wildfires engulfed parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui, killing at least 55 people, burning more than 1,000 structures, and forcing people to flee into the ocean for safety.
The brush fires burned hundreds of acres in Hawaii and utterly decimated Lahaina, the tourism heart of the island and the largest city in its west. Hospitals are overrun with burn patients, thousands of people have lost power, and as of Wednesday morning, 911 service was down in part of the island.
“We have suffered a terrible disaster,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green ... Read more ...
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Why a “room-temperature superconductor” would be a huge deal - VOX - Science (Aug 07, 2023) |
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Aug 07, 2023 · The superconductor frenzy, explained.
For the past several days, I’ve been frantically reloading Twitter accounts to try to learn as much as possible about LK-99, the purported room-temperature, ambient-pressure superconductor a team of physicists based in South Korea claim to have identified.
This is maybe a week after I learned what a superconductor is, or why it matters that it’s at room temperature or ambient pressure. But within days I went from near-total ignorance to utter glee at the possibilities the technology promises. Provided, of course, it’s real.
You, too, can take this journey from ignorance to giddiness. The details of how to make and investigate ... Read more ...
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The terrible paradox of air pollution and climate change - VOX - Science (Aug 07, 2023) |
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Aug 07, 2023 · Some types of air pollution slow global warming - but at the cost of millions of deaths a year.
“The smoke is very thick, like a dark mushroom in the sky,” said reporter Gus Abelgas in a 1991 television broadcast on the ongoing volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. “It’s just like what we saw in Hiroshima.”
After 500 years of dormancy, Mount Pinatubo’s June explosion represented one of the largest volcanic events of the 20th century. The eruption forced approximately 30,000 indigenous Aeta people to evacuate the nearby area and killed over 200 people. (An additional 426 people died in the three months following the explosion due to poor conditions in ... Read more ...
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