Space

The Year in Physics

Quanta Magazine: One of the first articles Quanta Magazine published in 2021 described a cosmic surprise: A long-puzzling smudge of X-ray light was not, as most believed, a nearby cloud of gas, the remnant of some long-ago stellar explosion. Instead, it was the edge of a truly enormous structure, a…

Earth Is Spinning Faster Now Than It Was 50 Years Ago

Discover Magazine: Ever feel like there’s just not enough time in the day? Turns out, you might be onto something. Earth is rotating faster than it has in the last half-century, resulting in our days being ever-so-slightly shorter than we’re used…

8 virtual field trips for STEM education

eSchool News: It’s January. Winter break is over, and the rest of the school year–whether in person, hybrid, or virtual–seems never-ending. And while traditional field trips are on pause while COVID still spreads, virtual field trips are still very much possible….

How to Survive Flying Too Close to the Sun

Physics: In spring of this year, the Parker Solar Probe got closer to our star than any previous spacecraft, dipping, for the first time, into a part of the Sun’s corona that is “magnetically dominated” (see Viewpoint: Momentous Crossing of…