The rate at which ice is disappearing across the planet has been speeding up, with 65% since the 1990s, a survey of global ice loss using European Space Agency satellite data reveals. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/esa-satellites-show-record-rate-ice-loss…
Tag: Mount Everest
Air pressure makes Mount Everest ‘shrink’ by thousands of feet, new study finds
Seasonal changes in air pressure sometimes make Mount Everest’s “perceived elevation” to shrink by thousands of feet, a new study finds. Source: https://www.livescience.com/mount-everest-air-pressure-perceived-altitude.html
Mount Everest, Earth’s Tallest Mountain, Just Got Taller By About a Meter
China and Nepal say they have determined the “most accurate height of Everest that we have ever had,” calculating it to be about 8,848.86 meters (29,031.7 feet) high. That’s almost a meter taller than the mountain’s previous recognized height. CNET reports: The two countries, which border each other at the mountain’s summit, shared the news in a joint virtual briefing Tuesday…
Everest Gets an Altitude Adjustment: Nepal and China Agree on Height
How tall is Mount Everest? Until now, it depended on whom you asked. China said it was 29,017 feet. Nepal said it was a little taller, at 29,028 feet. The countries have closed that 11-foot gap and reached an agreement. From a report: The world’s tallest peak this week will get a new, unified official height from the two nations it…
Microplastic pollution discovered near the top of Mount Everest
Tiny pieces of plastic called microplastics have have been found on Mount Everest. They have previously been detected in the Mariana trench so are now present at both the highest and deepest points on Earth Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260499-microplastic-pollution-discovered-near-the-top-of-mount-everest/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
What is interstellar space?
You might be surprised to learn that interstellar space isn’t just vacuum. It’s full of gases, elements, and dust – very thinly spread, to be sure – but the building blocks of stars and planets. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-interstellar-space…
Satellite data helps climbers ascend Mt. Everest
Data from ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite help climbers negotiate a treacherous glacier on the route to Mt. Everest’s summit. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/mt-everest-climbers-use-satellite-data-khumbu-icefall-copernicus-sentinel-2…
What Mars Would Look Like If Its Surface Was Covered With Water
schwit1 writes: A new map shows what the red planet would look like if 71 percent of its surface area was covered with water — around the same proportion as Earth. The results are spectacular: it shows two distinct landmasses forming, each of which would seem to form continents. While the left side shows a dramatic, mountainous terrain that includes Olympus…
Michael Hawley, Programmer, Professor and Pianist, Dies at 58
Michael Hawley, a computer programmer, professor, musician, speechwriter and impresario who helped lay the intellectual groundwork for what is now called the Internet of Things, died on Wednesday at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 58. From a report: The cause was colon cancer, said his father, George Hawley. Mr. Hawley began his career as a video game programmer at…
Is Mars still volcanically active? New study says maybe
Scientists studying the ancient Martian Tissint meteorite say they’ve found new evidence that Mars was volcanically active a few hundred million years ago … and may still be today. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/is-mars-still-volcanically-active-tissint-meteorite…