Researchers say they’ve identified the cleanest air on the planet – free from particles caused by human activity – over the Southern Ocean, which surrounds Antarctica. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/scientist-identify-cleanest-air-on-earth-southern-ocean…
Tag: National Academy of Sciences
Why Glass Frogs Have See-Through Skin Becomes Clear In Study
The mystery of why glass frogs have see-through skin has been solved, scientists say: the unusual feature is a type of camouflage. The Guardian reports: Glass frogs are found in tropical Central and South America, and get their name from their skin. However, the frogs are not truly transparent but translucent, with the skin on their backs typically a vivid green…
Global warming is making hurricanes stronger
As Earth gets warmer, hurricanes are expected to get stronger. A study of 40 years of satellite data suggests it’s already happening. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/new-research-shows-hurricanes-are-getting-stronger…
Global warming is influencing where tropical cyclones rage
While the global average number of tropical cyclones each year hasn’t budged from 86 over the last 4 decades, climate change has been influencing the locations of these deadly storms. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/study-climate-change-tropical-cyclones-hurricanes-location…
A beloved exoplanet turns to dust
Fomalhaut b was thought to be one of the few exoplanets photographed so far, but new observations from the Hubble Space Telescope show it’s really an expanding dust cloud. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/fomalhaut-b-not-an-exoplanet-instead-a-dust-cloud…
First sighting of mysterious Majorana fermion on a common metal
Physicists at MIT and elsewhere have observed evidence of Majorana fermions—particles that are theorized to also be their own antiparticle—on the surface of a common metal: gold. This is the first sighting of Majorana fermions on a platform that can potentially be scaled up. The results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are a major step toward…
Was this the ancestor of all animals?
Geologists say the worm-like creature – about the size of a grain of rice – is the 1st ancestor on the family tree that contains most animals today, including humans. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/ancestor-all-animals-australian-fossils…
Babies Are Prewired To Perceive the World
In an investigation of neural connectivity in 30 infants ranging from six to 57 days old (with an average age of 27 days), neuroscientists found that circuit wiring precedes, and thus may guide, regional specialization, shedding light on how knowledge systems emerge in the brain. An anonymous reader shares a report from Scientific American: In the study, published Monday in Proceedings…
Himalayan glacier shows evidence of start of Industrial Revolution
Human beings altered one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas hundreds of years before a person ever set foot there, new research has found. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/himalayan-glacier-evidence-start-industrial-revolution…
Study suggests early Earth’s atmosphere was rich in carbon dioxide
Scientists studying tiny ancient meteorites have found evidence that Earth’s atmosphere used to contain much more carbon dioxide, and maybe less nitrogen, than it does now. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/earth-ancient-atmosphere-carbon-dioxide-nitrogen-meteorites…