All Stories by Maria Temming
- Earth
Space station detectors found the source of weird ‘blue jet’ lightning
The origins of an enigmatic type of lightning in the upper atmosphere has been traced to a 10-microsecond flash of bright blue light.
- Space
The most ancient supermassive black hole is bafflingly big
The farthest known quasar challenges ideas about how the first supermassive black holes in the universe formed.
- Earth
Earth’s oceans are storing record-breaking amounts of heat
2020 was just the latest in a series of record-breaking years for ocean heat.
- Animals
Brown tree snakes use their tails as lassos to climb wide trees
A never-before-seen climbing technique could inspire the creation of new serpentine robots to navigate difficult terrains.
- Chemistry
Zinc-air batteries are typically single-use. A new design could change that
Swapping out the electrolyte in zinc-air batteries helps these next-gen power sources last longer.
- Chemistry
A new iron-based catalyst converts carbon dioxide into jet fuel
Jet fuel made from carbon dioxide could one day reduce pollution from air travel.
- Archaeology
Ivory from a 16th century shipwreck reveals new details about African elephants
Ivory from the sunken Portuguese trading ship Bom Jesus contains clues about elephant herds that once roamed Africa, and the people who hunted them.
- Space
Here are 10 of Arecibo’s coolest achievements
The now-defunct Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico made myriad discoveries over its 57-year run, including of pulsar planets and ice on Mercury.
- Space
Why losing Arecibo is a big deal for astronomy
The radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory has collapsed, robbing scientists of a special tool for studying everything from asteroids to galaxies.
- Planetary Science
50 years ago, scientists caught their first glimpse of amino acids from outer space
In 1970, scientists detected amino acids in a meteorite. Fifty years later, a variety of chemical ingredients for life have been found in other space rocks.
- Planetary Science
Farming on Mars will be a lot harder than ‘The Martian’ made it seem
Lab experiments developing and testing fake Martian dirt are proving just how difficult it would be to farm on the Red Planet.
- Earth
STEVE may be even less like typical auroras than scientists thought
The purple-and-green, atmospheric light show nicknamed STEVE just got even stranger.
