Technology & Innovation — February 6, 2009

There is a Green Comet Gunning For Planet Earth

According to NASA, there is a green comet named Lulin approaching Earth. One astronomer calls it “a green beauty that could become visible to the naked eye any day now.”

Named after the observatory in Taiwan where the discovery-photo was taken, Lulin makes its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 24, according to a NASA release. “Current estimates peg the maximum brightness at 4th or 5th magnitude, which means dark country skies would be required to see it. “No one can say for sure, however, because this appears to be Lulin’s first visit to the inner solar system and its first exposure to intense sunlight.” But surprises are possible!

the sun is setting over the ocean on a cloudy day.

13.8

How earthquakes helped us map the interior of the Sun

Temperatures in the Sun’s core exceed 10 million degrees Celsius. But how on Earth did we actually come to know that?

Sponsored

How to psychologically recover from a major financial setback

Financial setbacks are more common than you might think.

three test tubes with colored liquids in them.

Thinking

What makes science different from everything else?

Not everything that claims to be “scientific” actually is. There are five features of scientifically rigorous studies.

a painting of a group of people in a room.

The Past

The real reason Socrates was given the death sentence

Humiliating powerful people was not a key to success.

The Past

The earliest modern humans in Europe mastered bow-and-arrow technology 54,000 years ago

A new discovery pushes back the origin of these technologies by about 40,000 years.

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Politics & Current Affairs

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