Tag: Science

La Nina Weather Pattern Predicted To Return in Southern Hemisphere: Bureau of Meterology

Australians have been told to brace for more rain and flooding this summer after the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said in its latest climate update for the region that the La Nina Alert will remain in place. “The Bureau’s ENSO Outlook continues at La Niña ALERT, indicating at least a 70 percent chance of La…


Blaming Pakistan’s Flood Disaster on Human Driven Climate Change May Be Premature

Commentary The World Climate Declaration (WCD), signed by over 1100 reputable scientists, including Nobel Prize winners (pdf), states that there “is no statistical evidence that global warming is intensifying hurricanes, floods, droughts, and suchlike natural disasters, or making them more frequent.” It is useful to reflect upon this statement in the context of a discussion on…


Federal Court Reverses 2018 Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales

A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday reversed a lower court’s decision which found that two 2018 lease sales by the U.S. Department of the Interior to oil companies in the Gulf of Mexico were valid. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected two arguments by environmental groups, but agreed that the agency…


Researchers Devise Method to Cleanse Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ From Water

With mounting reports warning the earth’s water supply is being tainted with hazardous human-made “forever chemicals”—known as PFAS–University of California—chemists at Los Angeles (UCLA) and Northwestern University in Illinois have found a cheap, effective solution to an issue that may pose a global threat to human health. PFAS, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, are chemicals able…


Take 2: NASA Aims for Saturday Launch of New Moon Rocket

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—NASA will try again Saturday to launch its new moon rocket on a test flight, after engine trouble halted the first countdown this week. Managers said Tuesday they are changing fueling procedures to deal with the issue. A bad sensor also could be to blame for Monday’s scrapped launch, they noted. The 322-foot…


Newly Discovered Giant Bacteria Challenges Previous Biological Understanding

Researchers have found a new bacteria species that is millimeters long and visible to the eye, challenging a previous understanding that one needs a microscope to see a bacterium. “It’s 5,000 times bigger than most bacteria. To put it into context, it would be like a human encountering another human as tall as Mount Everest,”…


Strange Properties of Water Revealed Via Graphene Oxide

Instinctively, people assume that if you poke additional holes in a sieve, more water will pass through; however, recent research demonstrates that the opposite may be true at the nanoscale with a global team of scientists from Australia, Germany, France and Japan finding that water does not behave as expected while using Graphene Oxide (GO) filters….


Fossil Teeth Offer New Insights Into Human and Primate History

A new window into human history has been opened up by a global team of scientists who have discovered an innovative method to identify ancient seasonal climates using teeth. The scientists have developed a novel way to establish the role that ancient seasonal climates and behaviours played in the development of both primates and humans,…


NASA Postpones Artemis I Lunar Mission Launch

Fuel leaks have forced NASA to scrub the launch of its new moon rocket on a no-crew test flight. The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest. The 322-foot Space Launch System rocket was set to lift off Monday morning with three test dummies aboard on its first flight, a…


NASA Postpones Launch of Artemis I Moon Rocket

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.—A fuel leak and then an engine problem during final liftoff preparations led NASA to scrub the launch of its mighty new moon rocket Monday morning on a shakedown flight with three test dummies aboard. The next launch attempt will not take place until Friday at the earliest. As precious minutes ticked away,…