Even at a distance of 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) away[1], activity on the Sun can have adverse effects on technological systems[2] on Earth. Solar flares[3] – intense bursts of energy in the Sun’s atmosphere – and coronal mass ejections[4] – eruptions of plasma from the Sun – can affect the communications, satellite...
For 24 hours a day, seven days a week since November 2000, NASA and its international partners have sustained a continuous human presence in low-Earth orbit[1], including at least one American – a streak that will soon reach 25 years.
When viewed in the history of spaceflight, the International Space Station is perhaps one of humanity’s...
Grape phylloxera, or Daktulosphaira vitifoliae[1], is an aphidlike insect that attacks grapevines with devastating effects. In Colorado, where wine is an estimated US$3.9 billion dollar industry[2], phylloxera poses a significant threat.
In 2015, several vineyards in the Grand Valley American Viticultural Area on Colorado’s Western Slope observed...
Until Homo floresiensis was discovered, scientists assumed that the evolution of the human lineage was defined by bigger and bigger brains. Via a process called encephalization[1], human brains evolved to be relatively more massive than would be expected based on corresponding body size.
This proportionally bigger brain[2] is what anthropologists...