Geoscience That Made Headlines in 2018

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

2018 was quite a year across the geosciences ... which is hardly shocking considering we live on the most geologically active planet in the solar system. Some of the events were tragic, because when it comes to headlines, that is what gets the most attention. Others were warnings of things that could be headed our way and others were, thankfully, downright exciting and uplifting. Here's my quick takes on some of the big geoscience events from the year that was: Lower East Rift Zone Erupti ...read more

Book Review: Citizen Science for Now and for Always

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Mary Ellen Hannibal, Citizen Scientist: Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction, New York, NY: The Experiment, 2016. 432 pp. $29.95 hardcover, $17.95 paperback. Mary Ellen Hannibal’s Citizen Scientist: Searching for Heroes and Hope in an Age of Extinction is a beautiful collection that explores a wide range of stories. From the intimate moments of an individual’s life to the larger narratives of communities, Citizen Scientist tells stories th ...read more

How We Found Jupiter’s 79 (At Least) Moons

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Jupiter is king of the planets. It's huge, it's bright in our night skies, and even four of its comparatively tiny moons are bright enough to see with the most basic of telescopes. We've sent nine probes either into orbit or on a close flyby of the planet. And yet, as recently as this past year, we discovered not one, but twelve new moons around Jupiter, bringing the total to 79. How haven't we exhausted this particular moon mine yet? The Easy Targets First The answer is that most of Jupit ...read more

Figuring Out How Plants Grow in Space is Vital for Future Missions

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Space Plants Will future astronauts be able to snack on fresh space-grown produce? New research is advancing the study of plant growth in space, which may one day support humans living and growing their own food in space or on the surface of Mars. Researchers at the University of Florida Space Plants Lab are analyzing tissue taken from plants that have spent their entire lives growing in the microgravity environment aboard the International Space Station. It's revealing that plants can ind ...read more

Faint Starlight in New Hubble Images Lets Astronomers ‘See’ Dark Matter

Posted on Categories Discover Magazine

Two astronomers have devised a method that lets them “see” dark matter with the light from rogue stars. The pair has shown how images of faint starlight taken with the Hubble Space Telescope can be used to map dark matter’s distribution in galaxy clusters. The novel technique could ultimately help explore the nature of dark matter. Dark matter remains one of the great mysteries of modern science. A theoretical form of matter, dark matter is thought to make up about 8 ...read more