Science & Environment

NASA releases first topographical map of Mercury
On Friday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released the first ever global digital elevation mo...

NASA releases complete image of Pluto's crescent
On Thursday, NASA released the first complete picture of Pluto's crescent from the New Horizons probe. The probe captur...

After Mars, NASA announces water ice on Pluto
NASA released yesterday the first coloured pictures of Pluto's blue atmosphere and water ice on the surface taken by the space probe New Horizons. NASA said the haze particles may be grey or red in colour, but the scattering of light producing blue colour indicates the size of the particles. Smaller particles results in the scattering of the blue light. Scien...

Mars from the Viking Orbiter, 1980. (Image: NASA/USGS.)

NASA announces water on Mars
On Monday, NASA announced that signs of liquid water have been found on Mars. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft found evidence of the liquid on the Martian surface, in long dark spots on the Red Planet thought to be formed because of water flow. In a news conference, NASA's planetary science director, Jim Green said, "We now know Mars was once a plan...

A young tree in Saudi Arabia (Image: Francisco Anzola.)

Study estimates Earth has over three trillion trees
A study published yesterday by Nature estimates the global tree population at just over three trillion. Previous work estimated the total at 400 billion. A young tree in Saudi Arabia Image: Francisco Anzola. The international research, led by Yale University in the US, used satellite images to examine over 400,000 plots of land for estimated tree densit...

The Atlas V 551 rocket, used to launch New Horizons, being processed a month before launch. (Image: NASA.

Image of Pluto and its natural satellite Charon by New Horizons on July 11, 2015.
Image: NASA.

New Horizons at the Kennedy Space Ce

NASA's New Horizons space probe performs first close...
On Tuesday, NASA's space probe New Horizons reached near Pluto. It was launched about nine-and-a-half years ago on January 19, 2006 to collect data about the dwarf planet, amongst other targets. With its flyby on Tuesday it became the first spacecraft to explore Pluto closely. NASA collected data regarding the geology of the planet. The space probe had seven ...

File photo of a Texas family being rescued from flood conditions, 2007. (Image: Unknown U.S. Army official.)

Torrential rains wreak havoc, cause deaths across mu...
Various rainfall records have been broken all over the state in recent days. On Sunday alone, over three inches of rain fell in the city of Dallas. In Hays County, one official described the flooding as "the largest flood in the history of this region" — at least 350 homes there were destroyed and an additional 1,000 homes suffered damage. While both Oklahoma...

A bottle of nitrogen dioxide, from file. (Image: "Greenhorn1".)

University of Utah study finds suicide may be linked...
The team analysed suicide records for over 1,500 people from Salt Lake County, Utah from 2000 through 2010. Comparing to air pollution exposure in the three days prior to death the scientists noticed an increase of 20% for deaths amongst those exposed to high nitrogen dioxide. High exposure to fine particulates in the three days prior to death led to a 5% inc...

Scientists find ancient solar system in Milky Way ga...
They said the system dates roughly to the formation of the Milky Way galaxy. They found the planets orbiting around Kepler-444, about 117 light years from Earth. Researchers investigated Kepler-444 with NASA's Kepler telescope using a method called asteroseismology. Scientists explain they studied the star and noticed planets passing in front of it because ...

File photo of SpaceX headquarters. (Image: Bruno Sanchez-Andrade Nuño.)

SpaceX launches fifth resupply rocket to Internation...
The launch was postponed from Tuesday because of a technical issue on the second stage of the rocket. The shipment includes replacements for cargo aboard the spaceship Cygnus, destroyed during a failed launch in October. Cygnus belonged to the rival Orbital Sciences Corporation. SpaceX tried unsuccessfully to land the Falcon 9 delivery rocket for reuse. The r...

Artist's depiction of two supermassive black holes merging. (Image: NASA.)

Researchers say light signal from space suggests mer...
On Wednesday, George Djorgovski and collaborators reported in the journal Nature on an unusual light signal they say suggests two supermassive black holes are merging, a phenomenon never seen before, though theorized. The discovery could clarify how black holes merge and galaxies evolve, and could also provide a better understanding of the so-called "final ...

Mangrove forests in Sundarbans, Bangladesh. 2008. (Image: Sayamindu Dasgupta.)

United Nations analyzes oil spill in Sundarbans, Ban...
The 25-member United Nations team arrived in Bangladesh on December 18 and visited the Sundarbans from December 22 to December 27. At the press conference, Emilia Wahlstrom said the pollution was spread 40 kilometers up and downstream, but no impact on the mangrove forest floor was observed. She said the Pashur and Shela rivers contributed by washing some of ...

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA’s Orion spacecraft mounted atop. (Image: NASA/Bill Ingalls.)

Orion Spacecraft accomplishes first spaceflight test
NASA has finally accomplished its first spaceflight with the new Orion spacecraft, uncrewed, on Friday morning. The spacecraft has now traveled farther from the Earth then any other spacecraft designed to carry a crew has traveled in over four decades. The Orion crew module was launched off from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Statio...

3-D model of Rosetta. The actual Rosetta is black. (Image: IanShazell)

Philae space probe lands on comet
Scientists from the European Space Agency (ESA) announced yesterday the Philae space probe, as part of the Rosetta mission, has landed on a comet called Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. It is the first time ever a controlled landing has been made on a comet. Scientists say the anchors that hold the probe on the comet's surface malfunctioned and they are inv...

ISS cargo supplies burn in fiery explosion as rocket...
An unmanned rocket "Antares" was launched to take supplies to the International Space Station, but due to unknown circumstances exploded shortly after its launch from the US state of Virginia. The cargo ship, built by Orbital Sciences Corp will be under investigation to determine the malfunction. The rocket was carrying around 2200 kgs of supplies, which...

World Migratory Bird Day 2014
World Migratory Bird Day 2014 was celebrated in over 70 countries on 10-11 May. Since 2006, every second weekend of May, global communities celebrate the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. Festivals, bird watching and other events attract people from around the world to celebrate the days of the migratory birds. The World Migratory Bird Day...

6 decades of global warming in only 15 seconds (VIDEO)
NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) has released on their official Youtube channel a video, displaying a preview of the global warming over 64 years period between 1950-2013. The 15-seconds time-lapse shows how the average temperature on Earth has changed compared to the second half of the 20th century. The video was created by the Institute f...

Starlight Avatar is the world's first glowing plant
Bioglow, a company based in St Louis, Missouri, USA have bioengineered the world's first glowing plant by splicing genes from bioluminescent bacteria. Bioglow will auction 20 of their plants to the highest bidder and could soon become commercially available. The plant labelled Starlight Avatar is a genetically modified pot plant "Nicotiana" and will glow...

Moving to Mars
Re-locating to Mars sounds a little farfetched, but the team at Mars One disagrees. Mars One is a project that plans to re-settle humans on Mars by 2025. Recent developments from the project are pushing their plans into motion. Lockheed Martin, the contractors that are building the Orion spacecraft for NASA are also contracted by Mars One to build a sate...

Winter is coming to Bulgaria at the end of January
The past few months in Bulgaria have been reasonably sunny with "warm" temperatures, considering the season, however meteorologists are predicting snowfall by the 25th of this month. Temperatures are expected to drop as low as -12 degrees Celsius and could last through February and into March. Bulgarians are recommended to prepare themselves for a very c...

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