Historic Journey into Interstellar Space; New Discoveries in Volcanoes, Ice, and Water

EarthzineBest of Syndication, Original

For this Best of Syndication, we reflect on some of the exciting news items we’ve syndicated over the last few weeks. This includes a historic journey into interstellar space, new discoveries into volcanoes and ice, and more.

Earthzine syndicates articles every day from a variety of sources. You can follow these items and others like them via our homepage or RSS feed.

 


flooding scarsScars Left By Wildfires Worsen Flooding in Colorado -åÊ Originally Published by NBC News

Boulder, Colo., was getting absolutely drenched by flooding since, receiving an incredible 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters) of rain the in the city and its surrounding areas. The wildfires that have struck the area in the past few years may cause the flooding to worsen.

 

 

 

 


nasa spacecraftSpacecraft Embarks on Historic Journey – Originally Published by NASA

NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft officially is the first human-made object to venture into interstellar space. The 36-year-old probe is about 12 billion miles (19 billion kilometers) from our sun. The cost of the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 missions — including launch, mission operations and the spacecraft’s nuclear batteries, which were provided by the Department of Energy — is about $988 million through September.

 

 

 


ice thicknessNew Dimensions on Ice – Originally Published by the ESA

Offering new insights into our fragile polar regions, ESA’s CryoSat mission has provided three consecutive years of Arctic sea-ice thickness measurements, which show that the ice continues to thin.

 

 

 

 

 


water sourceKenya Aquifers Discover New Water SourceåÊ – Originally Published by BBC News

A huge new water source has been discovered in the arid Turkana region of northern Kenya, which could supply the country for 70 years, the government says.


starlight instrument‘First Starlight’ Instrument Ready – Originally Published by BBC News

An industrial team led from Astrium in Germany has completed the build of the Near-Infrared spectrometer, one of four instruments that will go in JWST. This is the second of Europe’s two instruments for Hubble’s successor, the James Webb Space Telescope, which is due for launch in 2018.

 

 

 

 


solar powerHow to Harness the Power of 70,000 Suns – Originally Published by IEEE

Stacked solar cells are already the most efficient solar cells available, but researchers at North Carolina State University have found a technique to boost the cells’ effectiveness even further.

 

 

 

 

 


volcano hotspotsNew Model of Earth Reveals Clues to Volcano Hotspots – Originally Published by EarthSky

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have detected previously unknown channels of slow-moving seismic waves in Earth’s upper mantle. This discovery that helps explain ‰ÛÏhotspot volcanoes‰Û that give birth to island chains such as Hawaii and Tahiti.

 

 

 

 


high techHow High Tech is Helping Bring Clean Water to India – Originally Published by Yale Environment 360

Anand Shah runs a company that is using solar-powered “water ATMs” to bring clean water to remote villages in India. In an e360 interview, Shah talks about how this company is using a high-tech approach to addressing one of India’s public health issues.