Space weather has more implications than causing glitches in Earth’s satellite-based communications — it can also strand gray whales, according to a new study. Typically, space weather is created when solar storms occur on the sun and stream out toward Earth. The high-energy particles can disrupt our communications and Earth’s magnetic field. But they may…… MORE
A nine-day heat wave scorched Antarctica’s northern tip earlier this month. New NASA images reveal that nearly a quarter of an Antarctic island’s snow cover melted in that time — an increasingly common symptom of the climate crisis. The images show Eagle Island on the northeastern peninsula of the icy continent at the start and…… MORE
It’s not just Earth that’s shaking these days. A NASA mission on Mars has recorded evidence of seismic activity, including 174 seismic events across Mars–and 20 events with a magnitude of three or four. Marsquakes anyone? Evidence of seismic activity on Mars that surprised the NASA team is part of a suite of six studies,…… MORE
Here’s what you need to know to Start Your Week Smart. (You can also get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. You give us five minutes, and we give you five things you must know for your weekday, plus a Sunday edition to get your week started smart. Sign up…… MORE
NASA wants your help creating new technology for a mission to a “hellish” planet. The space agency is trying to explore the surface of Venus with a rover, something that has never been accomplished before. “With a surface temperature in excess of 840 degrees Fahrenheit and a surface pressure 90 times that of Earth, Venus…… MORE
Some say it’s the most famous, perfectly composed news photo of all time. Sunday marks 75 years since Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal captured the iconic photograph of six US Marines raising an American flag over the battle-scarred Japanese island of Iwo Jima. The image was so inspiring that, by 1945 standards, it went viral.…… MORE
A 12-year-old boy left his puppy outside a shelter with a stuffed animal and a touching note: He wanted to spare him the wrath of his abusive father. The boy, who identfied himself as Andrés, left the pitbull puppy at a shelter in the Mexican state of Michoacan on February 13. A dog rescue group…… MORE
Everyone wanted to announce peace first, but only one group wants to leave. The beginnings of a long-trailed and horse-traded deal with the Taliban emerged Friday to perhaps get the United States out of its longest war and, as a more remote possibility, end decades of brutal conflict in the land-locked graveyard of empires. It…… MORE
British backpacker Grace Millane was strangled to death, crammed into a suitcase and buried in a New Zealand woodland after a Tinder date in December 2018. On Thursday her killer, a 28-year-old man, was sentenced to life imprisonment with minimum 17 year non-parole period. The Courts of New Zealand said in a statement: “Overall, the…… MORE
With eleven days to go until Israel’s election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to build thousands of new homes in a part of Jerusalem that the international community holds as the capital of a future Palestinian state. The announcement immediately drew verbal fire from Palestinians, who called the planned construction “land theft” and…… MORE
