Between 2016 and 2018, there was a sharp rise in the area of forest felled in countries across Europe, perhaps to feed demand for wood-based products Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2247601-satellites-reveal-a-49-per-cent-increase-in-tree-felling-in-europe/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: Sharp
Rogue’s gallery of dusty star systems reveals exoplanet nurseries
Astronomers this month released the largest collection of sharp, detailed images of debris disks around young stars, showcasing the great variety of shapes and sizes of stellar systems during their prime planet-forming years. Surprisingly, nearly all showed evidence of planets. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-06-rogue-gallery-dusty-star-reveals.html…
As Virus Infections Surge, Countries End Lockdowns
Still struggling with rising coronavirus cases, India, Mexico, Russia, Iran and Pakistan have decided they must end lockdowns and restart their economies. From a report: At Nigambodh Ghat, the oldest cremation grounds in India’s capital, the bodies keep coming. One ambulance arrives with five inside. Then another. Then another, in an endless display of death. As the coronavirus pandemic surges in…
New ‘sun clock’ quantifies extreme space weather switch on/off
Extreme space weather events can significantly impact systems such as satellites, communications systems, power distribution and aviation. They are driven by solar activity which is known to have an irregular but roughly 11 year cycle. By devising a new, regular ‘sun clock’, researchers have found that the switch on and off of periods of high solar activity is quite sharp, and…
Rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues unabated
NOAA reports that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) measured at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory for May 2020 was the highest monthly reading ever recorded. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/rising-carbon-dioxide-co2-record-high-june2020…
Jupiter, Saturn, moon on June 6-8, plus a word about the daytime moon
If you stay up late on the nights of June 6, 7 and 8, 2020, you can glimpse the moon with the bright planets Jupiter and Saturn, ascending in the east. Or see them before daybreak. Source: https://earthsky.org/tonight/daytime-moon-this-upcoming-week…
Strawberry Moon lunar eclipse of 2020 occurs today. Here’s what to expect.
Sharp-eyed skywatchers in parts of the world may be able to catch a slight lunar eclipse today as Earth embarks on a new “eclipse season,” although North American viewers will be out of luck. Source: https://www.livescience.com/strawberry-moon-lunar-eclipse-june-2020.html
Portrait of NGC 3628
Sharp telescopic views of Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Why Remote Work Is So Hard — and How It Can Be Fixed
Cal Newport, writing at the New Yorker: Technological transitions often stumble when we expect them to sprint. In 1989, the Stanford economist Paul David wanted to understand why so many companies were so slow to adopt computer technology; for historical perspective, he turned to the history of the electric dynamo, which had been invented around a hundred years before, and which,…
This Was Supposed to Be the Year Driverless Cars Went Mainstream
Tech companies once promised that fully functional, self-driving cars would be on the road by 2020 and on the path to remaking transportation and transforming the economy. From a report: But a decade after Google unveiled an autonomous car prototype with global fanfare, the technology is still far from ready, and many investors are wary of dumping more money into it…