Guest Thinkers — September 1, 2010

Hawaiian Vog

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Kilauea SO2

The latest eruption at Kilauea has increased the amount of vog on the big island of Hawai’i. Vog is more or less the same as the anthropogenic “smog” produced by car/industrial exhaust, but produced by volcanic gases (carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide amongst others). It definitely doesn’t make for good air quality, especially with the current lack of strong tradewinds in Hawai’i right now.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Silhouette of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft with antennas poised against a colorful planetary surface, sparking dreams of alien life.

Starts With A Bang

How NASA’s Europa Clipper helps the hunt for alien life

Could life be widespread throughout the cosmos, in the subsurface oceans of ice-covered worlds? NASA’s Europa Clipper mission investigates.

Rocky, reddish Martian landscape with scattered boulders and a hazy sky.

Hard Science

Mars’ missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight

Caption:“At this time in Mars’ history, we think CO2 is everywhere, in every nook and cranny, and water percolating through the rocks is full of CO2 too,” Joshua Murray says.

A visual representation of the hole in the ozone over Antarctica, depicted in varying colors to indicate different ozone concentration levels, against a black background.

Hard Science

How we solved the hole in the ozone

A scientist’s first-hand account shows the world can tackle a global environmental crisis.

Starts With A Bang

Why the electron’s mass is vital to life in the Universe

Most fundamental constants could be a little larger or smaller, and our Universe would still be similar. But not the mass of the electron.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: Could we determine if UAPs/UFOs are aliens?

Although a great many unidentified sights have been seen in the skies, none have conclusively demonstrated the presence of aliens. So far.

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Guest Thinkers

Chaiten Eruption, Day 7

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