Opportunity, a rover sent to explore the surface of Mars, has completed its mission, NASA announced on February 13. The rover is a motorized vehicle about the size of a golf cart. It had explored the surface of Mars for […]
Science
Fires Raging In California
Rain may be coming to California.
That’s good news for the many firefighters and other helpers who have gathered there to fight a series of forest fires that have been burning in the US state for more than 11 days.
The fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and have caused a lot of damage across tens of thousands of acres. Many people have had to leave their homes to get away from the fires.
The Weather Channel reports that 10 to 15 centimetres (four to six inches) of rain are forecast for today.
The rain will not only help the firefighters in their battle against the blaze, but it may also help to improve the air quality in northern California, according to CNN, a news service.
Canadian Scientist Shares Nobel Prize For Physics
The Nobel Prize is one of the biggest prizes in the world.
Dr. Strickland will share the prize with Dr. Gérard Mourou of France and Dr. Arthur Ashkin of the United States.
All three scientists won for their work creating tiny (miniature) tools using lasers.
The prize is $1.28 million. It will be divided among the three scientists. Half the money will go to Dr. Ashkin. Dr. Strickland and Dr. Mourou will share the other half.
Teen’s Project Helping To Clean The Ocean
A teenager’s dream of cleaning up the world’s oceans may soon come true.
Boyan Slat is a high school student who lives in Holland, in Europe. Seven years ago, he was swimming in the ocean. He saw more trash in the water, than fish. So for a school project, he made a plan to clean up the ocean.
In 2013, Slat formed a group called The Ocean Cleanup. It raised money to put Slat’s water clean-up plan in action.
On September 8, Slat’s plan began.
In the ocean between California and Hawaii is a lot of floating garbage. It is known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Slat’s group will clean it up using a floating tube. The tube will go around the garbage and trap it.
Stunning New Colour-Enhanced Pictures of Jupiter
NASA recently released new pictures of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. The photos were taken by the Juno spacecraft. Many of the black-and-white images, sent back to Earth by Juno, have been colourized by people to better show the clouds swirling around the planet. The Juno spacecraft was launched in 2011. Its mission was “to examine Jupiter’s chemistry, atmosphere, interior structure and magnetosophere,” according to a NASA website. Juno arrived at Jupiter in 2016, looking for “clues to its origin and evolution.” Since that time, it has been orbiting (flying around) Jupiter, taking pictures and sending them digitally back to Earth.
Scientist Stephen Hawking Dead At Age 76
When we think of scientific geniuses, we may think of Albert Einstein, Marie Curie or Ada Lovelace. Stephen Hawking was right up there with the most brilliant minds of any generation. He passed away last week, at the age of 76.
It would take a book — or a movie (there are both) — to even scratch the surface of his accomplishments, his tremendous sense of humour, his influence on millions of people and the vast depths of his knowledge.
He helped the world better understand black holes and string theory. Black holes are extremely dense regions in space. We can’t see them. In fact, we can understand what they are only by how they affect things around them. Hawking furthered our understanding of them and many other areas of physics. His groundbreaking work changed science forever.
The Truth About Tech
Some of the people who created many popular apps are telling kids to put their phones away–at least, a bit more often.
The Center for Humane Technology is made up of people who used to work for big tech companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Now they want kids to stop using those apps and websites so much.
In early February the Center, along with Common Sense Media, launched an awareness campaign called the Truth About Tech. Its goal is to teach students, parents and teachers about the dangers of spending too much time on smart phones and tablets.
Looking Forward To The January Thaw
The January thaw is coming. The term describes unusually warm weather for the time of year–and many people in Canada and the United States should experience it around the end of this month.
Many cities in Canada and the U.S. have been hit with blizzards and extremely cold temperatures, as well as high winds and lots of snow.
Many cities in Canada had snow and temperatures of -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) or colder. With the “wind chill factor,” -20 degrees Celsius feels like -35 degrees Celsius.
Cave On The Moon Could Be Base For Astronauts
Scientists from JAXA, the Japanese space agency, say they have discovered an enormous underground cave on the moon.
The discovery is exciting because the cave could provide a safe place for astronauts to live and work on future missions to the moon.
In 2009, a lunar probe launched by JAXA sent back images of the cave’s entrance. The probe used radar to determine the underground structures below the entrance and sent the information back to JAXA to be analyzed.
In October, JAXA announced that there appears to be a cavern about 50 kilometres (31 miles) long and 100 metres (328 feet) wide leading from the opening.
Scientists say the cave could make an ideal base for astronauts. It would protect the astronauts and their equipment from the extreme heat and cold on the moon’s surface. It would also help keep them safe from micrometeorites (tiny particles of space dust) that land on the moon, and from the harmful rays of the sun.
Cassini: Mission Accomplished
The Cassini space probe’s 20-year mission to Saturn is over. On September 15, at 4:55 a.m. Eastern Time on Earth, the spacecraft entered the atmosphere around Saturn. Moments later, it was destroyed. Cassini was launched in 1997. It had been […]
