Violent thunderstorms boiled up across Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri on May 22, 2019, as seen in this animation of infrared images acquired by the GOES-16 weather satellite. Tornadoes, including one that ravaged parts of Jefferson City, MO, are indicated by blue-colored T's. (Note: The animation may take awhile to load. It's worth the wait! Source: CIMSS Satellite Blog)
It certainly has been a wild — and deadly — few weeks for weather.
Since the first and 23rd of May, 340 torna ...read more
The series of paper cells developed by researchers at the University of Washington uses origami folds to absorb the force of impacts. (Credit: Kiyomi Taguchi/University of Washington)
Whether applied to auto collisions or rocket landings, absorbing energy from impacts is a valuable trait, and industries have been working on various solutions for years. For spacecraft, landing safely has entailed everything from inflatable airbag systems to sky cranes to retro-thrusters. But what if the force ...read more
Sara Futch, a graduate student at North Carolina State University, won Best Overall Poster at the Citizen Science Association Conference 2019 for her poster, “Uncovering Connections across Citizen Science Projects: A Social Network Analysis.” Conference attendees selected Sara’s poster via in-person votes during the poster session.
Sara Futch's poster
Here’s more from Sara about her research:
“My name is Sara Futch, and I’m a graduate student in F ...read more
Radar reveals that Mars is hiding past ice caps under the ones visible today. (Credit: SA/DLR/FU Berlin; NASA MGS MOLA Science Team)
Bands of ice and sand at Mars' north pole reveal an ancient climate that swung between warm and cold.
Mars, now dry and dusty, still holds water ice at its poles, and evidence strongly suggests it was once a planet where water flowed freely across the surface.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Shallow Radar (SHARAD) has peered deep into the northern ...read more
(Credit: Choksawatdikorn/Shutterstock)
Some of the smallest creatures in the sea are also some of the most influential. Plankton, a group of microscopic marine organisms that includes bacteria, amoebas and snail larvae, among other things, prop up the base of the oceanic food chain. Every sea creature, from clownfish to whales, ultimately depend on plankton for food.
Now, a new study that peers into a past before human influence shows climate change has upset the distribution of plankton ...read more