65 million years ago, an asteroid of about 10 km diameter struck the Yucatan Peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a mass extinction event that is the second biggest mass extinction in history (after the Permian mass extinction event 250 million years ago) In a new research, it has been shown that dinosaurs might have … Continue reading Dinosaurs in decline before the asteroid strike
Learning something quickly and efficiently
First of all, I would like to say that most of what I have written in this blog post is going to be based on a TED talk by Josh Kaufman, entitled, "The first twenty-hours, how to learn anything" (So if you want, you can view that TED talk for yourself and formulate your own … Continue reading Learning something quickly and efficiently
Transit of Mercury on the horizon
A planetary transit is always an exciting event. For those of you who don't know, a planetary transit is a phenomenon where a planet passes in front of the disc of its star which can be detected on Earth. The latest planetary transit involved the planet Venus, and it took place on June 5th and … Continue reading Transit of Mercury on the horizon
Interstellar sails
Today, just a few moments ago in fact, Stephen Hawking and a group of scientists working in the organization, the Breakthrough Foundation, have come up with a method of interstellar travel that has captivated the audience. Their proposal is to send tiny spacecraft, equipped with "sails" to explore interstellar space. Current methods of propulsion are not … Continue reading Interstellar sails
Climate Change’s "other" effect
Picture credits: NASAClimate change has seriously kicked on in recent times, with every new year setting new temperature records. It has resulted in a large amount of glacial melt in Greenland, Antarctica and various mountainous regions throughout the world. As we know, glaciers are larges MASSES of ice. When they melt, that mass is converted … Continue reading Climate Change’s "other" effect
Planet Nine Follow-up
Artist's impression of the Cassini spacecraft performing the Saturn Orbit Insertion procedureIt seems that the reports regarding the deviations in the orbit of Cassini are false. In a statement by mission managers and orbit determination experts at JPL, Cassini has not been experiencing the slight deviations in its orbit, as was reported a few days … Continue reading Planet Nine Follow-up
The Asthenosphere
A schematic diagram depicting the Asthenosphere in relation to the internal make-up of EarthThe Asthenosphere is one of the upper layers of the mantle and is viscous, mechanically weak and ductile. It forms the upper part of the mantle, thus being a part of the boundary between the Lithosphere at the top and the Mantle … Continue reading The Asthenosphere
Cassini spacecraft orbit perturbations may lead to discovery
An artist's impression of Planet Nine, with the orbit of Neptune in a ring. Credits: ESO/Tomruen/nagualdesignNASA has documented slight perturbations in the orbit of Cassini, a space probe which is currently in its 12th year in orbit around Saturn. The gravitational forces accounted by the eight known planets in the Solar System do not add up … Continue reading Cassini spacecraft orbit perturbations may lead to discovery
A Productive Vacation
A productive vacation is everyone's dream. All of us have vacations at some point in the calendar year For most of us, a vacation is a time to relax and let all the pressures, expectations, ambitions and disappointments disappear for a short time. After the vacation, we need to face all these "demons" of reality … Continue reading A Productive Vacation
Space rock smashes into Jupiter
A fast moving space rock appears to have smashed into Jupiter, with photographs taken by amateur astronomers showing a bright flash appearing on the disc of Jupiter. The bright spot which indicated that something had collided with JupiterEvents such as this occur very frequently. In fact, Jupiter acts as Earth's "bodyguard". Had it not been for … Continue reading Space rock smashes into Jupiter
