Stunning Loops of Plasma Observed on The Sun May Not Be What We Thought

A well-studied solar phenomenon may not be quite as simple as we we thought it was. New simulations suggest that what we thought were loops of plasma known as coronal loops erupting out from the surface of the Sun along magnetic field lines may, at least sometimes, be wrinkles in corrugated sheets of plasma.   … Read more

Stonehenge may have been used as a solar calendar

Stonehenge may have been used as a solar calendar, with each of the stones representing a day and sections of the circle of stones possibly corresponding to weeks, an archaeologist now says. An accurate solar calendar consists of about 365.25 days and is important for preventing the seasons from falling out of place (such as … Read more

25 weird and wild solar system facts

With so many interesting solar system facts, we’ve narrowed them down to 25 of our favorites.  Our solar system consists of the sun and everything that orbits that sun, like the eight (once nine) planets we all know from elementary school. But the main planets, as diverse and fascinating as they are, are just the … Read more

This Mind-Bogglingly Gigantic Sunspot Is Roughly The Size of Our Entire Planet

A new telescope taking on the task of staring at the Sun has delivered incredible new images of solar activity. The US National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope commenced science operations for the first time on Wednesday 23 February 2022. It’s the largest solar telescope in the world, and its high-resolution observations of … Read more

Archaeologist Identifies a Lost Timekeeping System in The Stones of Stonehenge

We stick calendars on the wall or load them up on our phones, but the people of the third millennium BCE used giant rocks, new research suggests. A new study explains how Stonehenge may have originally been used to keep track of a solar year (aka tropical year) of 365 and a quarter days, which … Read more

Solar panel add-on pulls water from air without consuming electricity

The system uses day-night temperature differences to extract water from the air while slightly increasing electricity generation by cooling solar panels Environment 1 March 2022 By Michael Le Page A prototype of the water-harvesting device Renyuan Li A three-month trial in Saudi Arabia has shown that a solar panel add-on system can harvest water without … Read more

Massive solar telescope starts science observations

The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) is starting its first operational science work as it embarks on a mission to better understand our sun. DKIST is a nearly $300 million science observatory perched atop the 10,062-foot (3,067 meters) Mount Haleakalā in Maui, Hawaii. One of its main functions will be to study the corona, the … Read more

A mystery in Jupiter’s atmosphere sheds light on solar system’s past

Jupiter’s atmosphere has a strange composition, but it could be explained if the planet formed farther away from the sun than where it orbits today, a new study suggests.  Scientists have known since NASA’s Galileo mission in the 1990s that the atmosphere of the largest planet of the solar system contains heavier chemical elements, elements … Read more

Three Fixes to Build Energy Projects Cleaner and Faster

Reducing carbon emissions in the U.S. to net zero is achievable. It’s economically sustainable, environmentally essential, technologically feasible and, with some work, even politically viable. But to have a good chance of reaching net zero, we must change the way we regulate the construction of clean energy projects. We have all of the building blocks: … Read more

Hidden Turbulence in The Atmosphere of The Sun Revealed by New AI Model

Hidden turbulent motion that takes place inside the atmosphere of the Sun can be accurately predicted by a newly developed neural network. Fed only temperature and vertical motion data collected from the surface of the solar photosphere, the AI model could correctly identify turbulent horizontal motion below the surface. This could help us to better … Read more