You’ll soon see four new names on the periodic table of the elements, including three that honor Moscow, Japan and Tennessee. The names are among four recommended Wednesday by an international scientific group. The fourth is named for a Russian scientist. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, which rules on chemical element names,…
November Was Record-warm Month For Globe, Extending Streak
Last month was the globe’s warmest November on record, the seventh consecutive month to reach a new high. A climate update Thursday from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also noted a record-warm average temperature for January through November as a whole. NOAA scientist Jake Crouch said it’s “virtually certain” that 2015 will be the…
Reusable Rocket: In A First, Booster Returns Safely To Earth
A private space company announced Tuesday that it had landed a rocket upright and gently enough to be used again, a milestone in commercial aeronautics. Reusing rockets, rather than discarding them, would be a big step toward making space flight less expensive. The achievement produced “the rarest of beasts: a used rocket,” Jeff Bezos, founder…
After 45 Years, Souvenirs from Apollo 11 Come to Light
More than four decades after the Apollo 11 moon landing, a cloth bag full of souvenirs brought back by astronaut Neil Armstrong has come to light. READ: SpaceX DSCOVR Launch Postponed to Tuesday Among the trove: a 16 mm movie camera from inside the lunar module that filmed its descent to the moon and Armstrong’s…
Diaper Tech Goes from Baby’s Bottom to Research Lab
This idea is not just in its infancy, it’s literally in diapers. A new trick for revealing tiny details under a microscope draws on a technology that helps make disposable diapers so absorbent. It all began when Edward Boyden and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tried to think of new ways to get…