Technology

NASA Flights to Track Greenhouse Gases Across Eastern U.S.

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By Glynn Wilson – An airborne experiment to improve scientists’ understanding of the sources of two powerful greenhouse gases and how they cycle into and out of the atmosphere is being launched this month by NASA. Atmospheric Carbon and Transport–America, or ACT-America, will measure concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane alongside related weather systems. The…

NASA Satellite Finds Unreported Sources of Toxic Air Pollution

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By Glynn Wilson – Scientists have located 39 new major sources of toxic sulfur dioxide emissions previously unreported by existing methods, according to a study published this week in the journal Nature Geosciences. A known health hazard and contributor to acid rain, sulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of six air pollutants regulated by the U.S.…

Apple CEO Tim Cook From South Alabama Stands Up to FBI

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By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — If Apple CEO Tim Cook was an anti-gay activist judge like Judge Roy Moore, an openly Christian conservative Republican like Richard Shelby and/or a football star like Kenny “Snake” Stabler, there would be a bronze statue of him in his home town of Robertsdale in the center of…

Human Impact on Earth’s Climate Ushers in New Geological Era

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By Glynn Wilson – Homo sapiens have impacted the Earth’s climate to such a pervasive extent that scientists are urging the ushering in of a new geological era. We have now left the Holocene epoch and entered the Anthropocene, according to a new study out Thursday from the journal Science. The Holocene epoch, which scientists…

Solar Power Set for Record Year, in Spite of Critics on the Right

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By Glynn Wilson – WASHINGTON, D.C. – In spite of the naysayers on the political right, solar power continues to grow as a significant source of energy in the economy of the United States, setting records every year, according to a new report out from the Solar Energy Industries Association. Out of all new electricity…

NASA Satellite Camera Provides ‘EPIC’ View of Earth

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A NASA camera on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite has returned its first view of the entire sunlit side of Earth from one million miles away. The color images of Earth from NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) are generated by combining three separate images to create a photographic-quality image. The camera takes…

Earth Day in the Nation’s Capital

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Aeronautics and Space Administration will celebrate the 45th annual Earth Day April 17-22 with a variety of live and online activities to engage the public in the agency’s mission to better understand and protect the planet. The agency uses the vantage point of space to increase understanding of the planet,…