Alaska’s glaciers are highly sensitive to rising temperatures. According to new research using satellite radar observations, every 1 degree Celsius increase in average summer temperatures extends glacier melting by roughly three weeks. A single degree Celsius equals 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit. The study also demonstrates that synthetic aperture radar (SAR) can automatically and consistently monitor glaciers…
On my second visit with Nancy Wexler at her Manhattan apartment, she had a gift for me. It was a copy of her newly published memoir, “My Life, My Science: Pursuing a Cure for Huntington’s Disease.” It had been signed with a stamp of her signature — she isn’t able to sign it herself. Nor…
Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have created a new artificial photosynthesis system that can generate solar fuel more consistently while eliminating the need for battery based control equipment. The advance comes from integrating a self regulating chemical component directly into the electrolyzer, reducing both system complexity and cost. Like natural photosynthesis in plants, artificial photosynthesis…
MIT engineers are developing a new spacecraft propulsion system that combines the strengths of traditional chemical rockets with the efficiency and precision of electric thrusters. The technology could give small satellites far greater flexibility in space. Instead of relying on separate fuel systems for different types of maneuvers, future spacecraft could use a single propellant…
The moon joy continues … sort of. On Tuesday, NASA plans to announce the four astronauts who will make up the crew of Artemis III, the next mission in the agency’s program to return humans to the surface of the moon. But what should have been a celebratory event now comes in the wake of…
Available for over a year In this week’s programme, guest Catherine Loveday, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Westminster, talks to Claudia Hammond about whether people feel emotions about politics differently in the body to everyday emotions. Visiting the Institute for the Science of Early years & Youth lab, a child developmental psychology…
Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common type of hair loss, affecting millions of men and women around the world. It is often known as male or female pattern hair loss, and it usually develops gradually as hair follicles shrink over time. As follicles become smaller, they produce thinner, shorter hairs until growth may slow…
Researchers have identified a massive hidden geological feature beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, revealing a previously unrecognized connection between some of the continent’s largest buried landscapes. The newly recognized structure consists of a network of enormous basins concealed beneath ice that exceeds three kilometers (nearly two miles) in thickness in some locations. Together, these…
Beluga whales are among the most challenging marine mammals to study. Much of their lives are spent beneath Arctic waters and sea ice, making direct observation difficult. Now, a long-term DNA study has provided rare insight into how a population of belugas in Bristol Bay, Alaska, forms family connections and maintains genetic health. The findings…
On Wednesday, NASA announced the end of a more than 11-year mission aimed at solving a key mystery about Mars: What happened to the air that once made the planet habitable? The NASA spacecraft MAVEN, short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, had been orbiting around the Red Planet since 2014. NASA last received a…
