Oct 4, 2024 | Salon.com
Barnard b may have an unassuming name, but the not-so-distant exoplanet is attracting excited attention from scientists. Newly discovered by astronomers publishing for the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, Barnard b orbits the closest solo star to our own solar system, known as Barnard’s star. In the process, Barnard b raises hopes about the possibility of discovering life beyond Earth....
Originally posted on salon.com
Oct 3, 2024 | Salon.com
During Tuesday night’s vice presidential debate between Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), Vance dismissed climate change as “weird science,” skeptically characterizing the scientific consensus about burning fossil fuels as “this idea that carbon emissions drive all the climate change.” Top climate scientists were unimpressed with Vance’s posturing....
Originally posted on salon.com
Oct 2, 2024 | Salon.com
People are still reeling from the devastation Hurricane Helene left behind, with some wondering why the storm was so intense. At least 162 people were killed across six states, with many still unaccounted for and over $35 billion in estimated damages. One community was particularly hard-hit: Asheville, North Carolina. But this is strange, because Asheville has been painted a place more resilient to climate change than other areas affected by the global crisis....
Originally posted on salon.com
Oct 1, 2024 | Salon.com
Sloths are among the most beloved of jungle animals. The famously sluggish and furry tree-dwellers are found throughout Central and South America, giving off the vibe of relaxed lifestyle. Yet a recent study in the journal PeerJ Life and Environment revealed that sloths’ laid back lives are imperiled by the same human-caused problem endangering much of the planet — climate change....
Originally posted on salon.com
Oct 1, 2024 | Salon.com
Discussing the weather is one of the most politically neutral forms of small talk. Or, at least it was. As climate change has changed the frequency and intensity of devastating storms, including Hurricane Helene, which has claimed over 100 lives in the past week, the changes to our planet has also become a politically fraught topic....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 30, 2024 | Salon.com
Imagine a planet the size of Neptune, itself about four times the size of our home planet. Instead of orbiting our Sun, this exoplanet revolves around a star in the Virgo constellation roughly 200 light-years from Earth. Perhaps most notably, it has a very low mass — 10% the mass of Jupiter despite being 80% its volume, with an atmosphere of water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and ammonia....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 27, 2024 | Salon.com
The passing of a comet can bring feelings of either dread or wonder. A mysterious celestial event known as the Star of Bethlehem — which was said to have accompanied the birth of Jesus Christ — could have been a comet because it appeared so suddenly, stayed for so long and was seen crossing the sky....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 27, 2024 | Salon.com
Fish evolution is so strange that it’s given us species that can count, change color by “seeing” with its skin and even fish that can “sing.” But sea robins in the family Triglidae are some of the most bizarre in the ocean, as illuminated by two new studies giving surprising insight into their biology....
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 24, 2024 | Salon.com
Climate change deniers inaccurately claim that Earth’s rapidly rising temperatures are the mere product of natural cycles. Scientific experts have long explained that, although Earth does experience natural cycles, they do not explain how the average carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere is 419 parts per million, as opposed to the preindustrial level of 280 parts per million. ...
Originally posted on salon.com
Sep 23, 2024 | Salon.com
ExxonMobil, a fossil fuel company that conspicuously touts a commitment to fighting plastic pollution, is being sued by the State of California as of Monday for allegedly misleading the public about the effectiveness of the various anti-pollution tactics that they advocate.
In the first lawsuit ever to be filed against a large oil company for spreading this type of misinformation, California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused the petroleum behemoth of “a decades-long campaign of deception that caused and exacerbated the global plastics pollution crisis.”...
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