Saima May Sidik

Science Journalist at Freelance

science writer, she/her also on mastodon: @[email protected]

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Articles

U.K. Space Weather Prediction System Goes Operational

5 days ago | eos.org | Saima May Sidik

The impacts of space weather such as extreme solar winds and magnetic waves are not limited to outer space. Bursts of plasma emanating from the Sun, for instance, can temporarily intensify electric and magnetic fields on the ground when they arrive at Earth, causing geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) to flow into infrastructure such as powerlines, pipelines, and railways. GICs can cause widespread equipment failures, leading to blackouts and safety concerns.
Charting a path from fire features to health outcomes

3 weeks ago | phys.org | Saima May Sidik |Lisa Lock |Andrew Zinin

Wildfires are creeping into urban environments with alarming frequency, and they are connected to health problems ranging from respiratory illnesses to hypertension to anxiety. Studying the links between wildfires in these areas and health is challenging because wildfire smoke and ash contain a mix of chemicals from buildings, cars, and electronics, leaving researchers and communities with many unanswered questions.
Charting a Path from Fire Features to Health Outcomes

3 weeks ago | eos.org | Saima May Sidik

Wildfires are creeping into urban environments with alarming frequency, and they are connected to health problems ranging from respiratory illnesses to hypertension to anxiety. Studying the links between wildfires in these areas and health is challenging because wildfire smoke and ash contain a mix of chemicals from buildings, cars, and electronics, leaving researchers and communities with many unanswered questions.
理解土壤湿度的关键可能在于简化 - Eos

3 weeks ago | eos.org | Saima May Sidik

This is an authorized translation of an Eos article.
Former Department of Energy Leader Reflects on a Changing Landscape

3 weeks ago | eos.org | Saima May Sidik

Shortly after President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he nominated Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, then a biogeochemist at the University of California, Merced, to oversee the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science. After a 15-month vetting process involving interviews, a mountain of paperwork, and, ultimately, a Senate confirmation, the AGU medalist became the first person of color and the first Earth scientist to hold the position. She served in the position for just under 2 years.
Simplicity may be the key to understanding soil moisture

1 month ago | phys.org | Saima May Sidik |Lisa Lock |Robert Egan

Soil moisture is a key regulator of temperature and humidity, one that's positioned to be affected substantially by climate change. But despite the importance of soil moisture, efforts to model it involve dozens of poorly constrained parameters, and different models tend to disagree about how soil moisture levels will change in a warming world.
Simplicity May Be the Key to Understanding Soil Moisture

1 month ago | eos.org | Saima May Sidik

Soil moisture is a key regulator of temperature and humidity, one that’s positioned to be affected substantially by climate change. But despite the importance of soil moisture, efforts to model it involve dozens of poorly constrained parameters, and different models tend to disagree about how soil moisture levels will change in a warming world.
Storm Prediction Gets 10 Times Faster Thanks to AI

1 month ago | eos.org | Saima May Sidik

Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms can produce weather predictions more quickly than traditional algorithms for a fraction of the computational cost. But because training AI takes such large amounts of data, it has so far been most successful at producing global-scale forecasts. Until recently, researchers lacked the data needed to train algorithms to predict small-scale weather patterns such as thunderstorms.
The Uncertain Fate of the Beaufort Gyre

1 month ago | eos.org | Saima May Sidik

As freshwater from glacier melt, river runoff, and precipitation enters the Arctic Ocean, a circular current called the Beaufort Gyre traps it near the surface, slowly releasing the water into the Atlantic Ocean over decades. Warming global temperatures may weaken the wind patterns that keep the gyre turning, which could slow or even stop the current and release a flood of freshwater with a volume comparable to that of the Great Lakes.
Proposed experiment could clarify origin of Martian methane

1 month ago | phys.org | Saima May Sidik

Over the past decade, the Curiosity rover has repeatedly detected methane on the surface of Mars. This gas is often produced by microbes, so it could herald the presence of life on the red planet. But skeptics have postulated that the gas detected by Curiosity could have a much more pedestrian origin.