Meghan Bartels

5 days ago | scientificamerican.com | Meghan Bartels

A year ago this weekend, the sun’s activity created some of the most spectacular auroras on record, with displays visible as far south as Florida. The incredible spectacles last May (and another auroral outburst last October) were partly a matter of luck because several factors, some of them serendipitous, affect the appearance of aurora. But the sun had been primed to put on a show as it approached the maximum phase of its 11-year activity cycle—and that high activity continues today.

6 days ago | eoswetenschap.eu | Meghan Bartels

De kardinalen van het Vaticaan verzamelden zich gisteren voor de derde dag op een rij voor het conclaaf met als doel een opvolger aan te duiden van de onlangs overleden Paus Franciscus. Dat betekende dat toen alle ogen van de wereld gericht waren op de schoorsteen van de Sixtijnse kapel. Toen er zwarte rookwolkjes uit de schoorsteen kwamen, wilde dat zeggen dat er tijdens de stemronde geen winnaar uit de bus was gekomen.

1 week ago | spektrum.de | Meghan Bartels

Bericht Lesedauer ca. 3 Minuten DruckenTeilenKonklave: Die Pyrotechnik hinter der PapstwahlGespannt blickt die Welt auf die Sixtinische Kapelle, besser gesagt auf deren Schornstein. Damit weißer und schwarzer Rauch entsteht, befolgt der Vatikan spezielle Rezepturen. Exklusive Übersetzung ausDie Kardinäle des Vatikans tagen seit 7. Mai im Konklave, um einen Nachfolger für den verstorbenen Papst Franziskus zu wählen.

2 weeks ago | scientificamerican.com | Meghan Bartels

Thirty-five years ago today a revolutionary new era of astronomy began when the Hubble Space Telescope, tucked onboard the space shuttle Discovery, blasted off Earth into history. The next day a robotic arm tipped the telescope into orbit from the shuttle’s cargo bay. Within a month Hubble had truly begun its mission, gazing out at the cosmos for NASA and the European Space Agency with its 2.4-meter-wide starlight-gathering mirror—the largest ever launched to space at the time.

3 weeks ago | scientificamerican.com | Meghan Bartels

Scientists and extraterrestrial enthusiasts are abuzz after a team of researchers studying the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18 b with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) just announced that they detected high levels of either the chemical dimethyl sulfide or a very similar compound—billing it as a hint of alien life. Although most people have never heard of dimethyl sulfide, it’s all around us here on Earth. But what is this compound, and is it really a sign of life beyond Earth?