As Bostonians, rising sea levels are a familiar concern, with multiple reports projecting which neighborhoods will be underwater by 2050. As shocking as these maps are, they do not convey the full scope of the issue. If nothing is done, global sea levels are expected to rise 25-123 centimeters and 0.5–5 percent of the global […]
Testing the Waters of Glacial Geoengineering Read More »
Many kinds of stars, called variable stars, change in brightness, increasing and decreasing in luminosity over periods as long as years or as short as fractions of a second. However, these changes are dependable patterns that repeat over the star’s lifetime, and these fluctuations can only account for up to two percent of the star’s
Sorry, Not Aliens: Tabby’s Star Mystery Solved Read More »
Stephen Hawking, a renowned cosmologist and celebrity scientist, passed away at age 76 on March 14, 2018, the 300th anniversary of Galileo’s death. Hawking was born in Oxford, England in 1942 to a family of academics: his mother studied politics, philosophy, and economics and worked as a secretary for a medical research institute, and his
Stephen Hawking: A Singular Mind Read More »
Scientists studying exoplanets are about to take a step into the future with the launch of NASA’s newest darling, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Once launched in April 2018, TESS will be able to detect exoplanets using the transit method, one of several methods astronomers use to detect planets around other stars. When a
Planet Spotting with TESS Read More »
Boston has a long and vibrant history of scientific achievement, a legacy celebrated by the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s semi-annual I Heart Science event. On February 10th 2018, science enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds wove between stations scattered across the museum. Kids built Lego habitats for Madagascar hissing cockroaches; adults perused scientist profiles lining the
I Heart Science at the Harvard Museum of Natural History Read More »