The scientific improvement Perovskite solar cells are now looking like they are going to be the future of solar energy technology. These solar cells, according to the Ecole Polytehnique Fédérale de Lausanne, have now been able to achieve both a 22% peak efficiency and incredibly high sustainable efficiency marks. The solar cells have been able […]
Month: March 2018
Bee puns can sting…
Due to global warming, temperatures in the Rocky Mountains have increased to the point of effecting flower growth. With the warmer climates, flower species have been declining. Flowers being bumble bees’ main food source, this decline has also effected how the bees pollinate and survive. Bees’ tongue sizes relate to which flowers they go to […]
A Higher Tide
This September, a rather large Antarctic Ice sheet came off the Pine Island Glacier. This is not an uncommon occurrence; the Pine Island Glacier loses 45 billion tons of ice to open ocean every year. Despite these seemingly massive areas of ice being lost they only contribute to about 1 millimeter of sea rise every […]
Sea Levels Not Leveling Off
From 1993-2015, NASA satellite sea level observations have shown that on average, sea levels have been rising 3.4 millimeters (0.134 inches) per year. However, in 2016 and 2017, the sea levels actually decreased by 2.5 millimeters. If the prediction of continuous growth had been made confidently, then why did the sea levels fall? Scientists have […]
Topical Tropical Stroms
The recent news has been filled with talk of hurricanes, tropical storms, and the devastation that they have caused. This article, “Why This Hurricane Season Has Been so Catastrophic” sheds some light onto why our environment has been plagued this year with such destructive storms. The author attributes these storms to favorable atmospheric conditions and […]
The Importance of Tropical Rainforests and Their Rapid Deforestation
The article “Measuring The Daily Destruction of the World’s Rainforests” from Scientific American discusses the tropical deforestation that is occurring daily. Approximately 80,000 acres of lush rainforests are being destroyed and another 80,000 acres of tropical forests being damaged daily. This deforestation is incredibly worrisome and dangerous as tropical rainforests play an essential part on Earth […]
Not So Permanent Permafrost
Melting of Permafrost The Arctic is warming at twice the rate of many places in the rest of the world. This is causing the disappearance of habitat for the animals along with coastal native villages. Permafrost is the constantly frozen ground that lies under the ground of most of the state. It is crucial that this frozen […]
Why The Protection of Earth’s Oceans Is More Important Than The Protection Of Its Crust
Why The Protection of Earth’s Oceans Is More Important Than The Protection Of Its Crust Scientists from the UK have conducted extensive research on the most biodiverse part of the seafloor: the continental shelf. In their studies they aimed to discover how human intervention is affecting the seafloor. The researchers from University of Southampton(the […]
Elon Musk’s New Vision
Elon Musk spoke at the International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide on Friday about his new plans and visions for the future of his company, SpaceX. Musk spoke about his new visions for sending people to Mars, and it all centered around a new idea for the rocket and spaceship, and the Interplanetary Transport System.* The […]
Ocean Robots: The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Our Scientific Discoveries
Although the North Atlantic Ocean accounts for only 1.5 percent of the surface area of the world’s oceans, it’s algae blooms have tremendous effects on many ecosystems and even the global climate change. Every spring, these algae blooms suck up extraordinary amounts of carbon dioxide, which in turn affects the ocean’s food chain and simultaneously […]