Holiday Raffle Winner and Science Saturday 12/15
Credit: Pasquale Vassallo, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn.
Before we get into Science Saturday, I will announce the winner of the Holiday Raffle. Congratulations to:
Tammie Ahearn!
And a big thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle. Stick around for more contests in the future. Without further ado, Science Saturday:
Space.com: Both sides of the Heliosphere Touched
Last Month, the Voyager 2 probe crossed the Heliopause into interstellar space. On the same day, the Parker Solar Probe came within less than one fifth of an AU of the sun’s visible surface. The spacecraft were launched more than 40 years apart, so the fact that this happened on the same day is pretty incredible. Both spacecraft continue to tell us much about the nature of our solar system, and its place in the universe.
Science Alert: Ignoring the Insects
A recent survey of popular entry-level textbooks has found that insects are not being given the credit and coverage they deserve. With more than 30 million identified species, insects represent a whopping 80% of animals on earth, and are therefore of monumental importance to Earth’s ecology. Just because they’re creepy, doesn’t mean we should ignore them.
Stanford: Ocean Floor Vents
Stanford researchers are studying volcanic CO2 vents off the coast of Italy. They believe that the life around these vents may offer insight into how the future of our oceans might look. Humans are causing a steady increase in dissolved CO2 in the world’s oceans, so studying the effects that increased levels of CO2 have on ocean life is probably a smart thing to do. Unofficially, this area of the ocean may be the largest serving of sparkling water ever.
Space.com: Magnets Are Cool
This article provides some interesting and little-known properties of magnets. Written by Paul Sutter, astrophysicist and lead scientist at the COSI Science Center, it provides an interesting angle on magnetism. If you like magnets, get in here.
LiveScience: The Navy Hates Science
The Navy doesn’t actually hate science, but it’s secrecy after World War II may have slowed the development of theories of plate tectonics. The Navy did extensive research on the seafloor in the 50s and 60s, but all of the data that was gathered remained classified. For this reason, the theory of plate tectonics which would have otherwise come into being much earlier, was not developed until the 60s.
That’s all for this week.
-Sal
