When solar storms strike Earth, they can disrupt power grids, rail systems, satellites, and even marine life. These effects arise because solar wind and geomagnetic activity disturb the magnetosphere–ionosphere system, generating electric and magnetic field variations that can resemble fainter signals from natural hazards. This risk is not theoretical.
Solar emissions exert 'drag' on space junk orbiting Earth. From historical measurements across a period of 36 years, researchers have now shown that space junk begins to fall down much faster once the sun's activity across the solar cycle reaches approximately 67% of its peak. This result, which is expected to hold for station-keeping satellites too, is important for better planning of space missions that avoid collisions.
In modern social research, sociological questions are increasingly being answered with the help of experiments; for example, whether employers discriminate in personnel selection, whether immigrants are treated less well in social situations, or whether counseling programs help to overcome educational inequalities.
To ensure more food reaches communities in need, a team of researchers collaborated with VolunteerMatch and Feeding America to enhance their algorithms, making volunteer distribution more efficient and equitable.
To better understand how young children experiencing trauma are supported in early learning settings, Adelaide University researchers examined the role of teacher self-efficacy—the confidence teachers have in their knowledge and abilities—in creating safe, responsive learning environments.
A lone coyote stunned biologists and others when it paddled its way to remote Alcatraz Island earlier this year, a former federal prison in the San Francisco Bay surrounded by swift, choppy waters notorious for thwarting prisoners' escapes.
The new focus on manned missions to the moon and Mars presents countless pressing challenges, including keeping humans alive in hostile environments. What happens when an astronaut or space tourist has a cardiac emergency millions of miles from the nearest hospital?
A non-toxic coating developed by researchers at University of Toronto Engineering prevents proteins from sticking to surfaces—potentially offering a new tool in the fight against hospital-acquired infections.
Many scholars have studied the effects of colonial management on terrestrial resources, but what about the effect of colonialism on bodies of water? A new article in Isis: A Journal of the History of Science Society examines the ways in which fisheries science and colonial development converged for the purpose of exploiting marine resources in British-controlled Nyasaland (now Malawi).
Acid-filled pitchers complete with fangs. Labyrinthine chambers decorated with bristles. Leaves that snap shut in less than a second. Employing strategies like these, carnivorous plants have a reputation as fearsome predators, but a new study published in the journal Ecology suggests they may do more to help their insect neighbors than previously thought.
