Earth and Planetary Science

Cosmologists’ standard model of the universe assumes that the universe expands identically in all directions. A team of researchers at the University College London and Imperial College London proved this theory to be correct by studying the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which is the Big Bang’s remnant radiation. Read more about their research here.

Researchers at the James Cook University studied the ecological effect of humans on the planet and found that around 97% of Earth's biologically richest regions have ecological footprints of humankind. Using information collected through surveys and data collected from remote sensing devices, the researchers analyzed the extent of human activity on the planet and its effect over time. Read more about their research here.

A team of astronomers led by the University of Arizona, USA, have discovered an exoplanet, named HD 131399Ab, which has three stars. As a result, it likely experiences triple sunrises and sunsets each day, and constant light or darkness for certain periods of time. According to the astronomers, for half of the planet’s orbit, three stars are visible in the sky. Read more about their research here.

An international team of researchers has released the new World Atlas of Artificial Sky Brightness, which shows that the Milky Way is hidden from one third of humanity due to light pollution. Using high-resolution satellite data and precision sky brightness measurements, the team assessed the impact of light pollution on humans as well as wildlife. Read more about their research here.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia discovered that ‘Pelagibacterales,’ a group of bacteria, have a significant role to play in maintaining the stability of the Earth’s atmosphere by increasing the cloud droplets. This bacteria, which are the smallest genomes of all free-living organisms, are found in abundance on the Earth. Read more about their research here.

The interaction between the sun and Earth’s magnetic fields sometimes cause storms of explosive nature in the space near Earth. Understanding these interactions is important to help protect and improve the performance of satellites. NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission’s results have provided the first direct and detailed observation of magnetic reconnection. Read more about these findings here.

A team of engineers and marine biologists at the University of California, San Diego, led by Michael Frank, a Ph.D. candidate at the Jacobs School of Engineering, have designed a space exploration device modeled on sea urchin’s mouth and teeth. Read more about their research here.

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn for more than a decade, has revealed that Saturn’s moon Titan has a sea filled with liquid methane. It is known that Saturn’s atmosphere consists primarily of methane, and the extreme cold weather on the planet have led researchers to speculate that it could have reserves of hydrocarbon in the form of seas. This was proved right by the Cassini spacecraft’s data which showed that more than 1.6 million square kilometers of the planet’s surface is covered in liquid. Read more about these findings here.

Fertilizers are widely used around the world, and the effect of the chemicals in fertilizers on water and soil are immense. In particular, phosphorus has become a concerning chemical because it accumulates in water bodies as well as the landscape. An international team of researchers studied the presence of this chemical in three river basins: the Thames River basin in the U.K., the Maumee River Basin in the mid-western section of the U.S. and the Yangtze River Basin in China. Read more about their research here.

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Oregon State University, and the U.S. Coast Guard wanted to establish a standard for ambient noise in the Challenger Deep trough in the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean. However, contrary to the expectation of finding a calm and silent atmosphere, the researchers discovered that the deepest part of the ocean was filled with noises, both natural and human made. Read more about their research here.