Earth is the only planet we know that has sentient life – but astronomers have found two dozen exoplanets that may have better conditions for life than our home world. A team led by Washington State University identified 24 ‘superhabitable’ planets out of more than 4,500 known exoplanets that could be a good candidate for … Read more
Amazon has filled the roof of a massive two million square foot fulfilment centre in Kent with a whopping 11,500 with solar panels as part of a pledge to move to renewable energy by 2025. With an annual production of around 2,700 megawatt hours – or a capacity of 4.83 megawatts – the Amazon ‘solar … Read more
Solar storm forecasting system developed by ‘citizen-scientists’ could help prevent damage to satellites and power grids and protect astronauts from harmful radiation Members of the public helped to analyse so-called coronal mass ejections These are releases of charged particles and magnetic field from the Sun From the analysis, the team were able to devise new … Read more
The RMS Titanic may have only taken the exact fateful course that saw it holed and sunk by an iceberg on April 15, 1912 because a solar flare threw off the vessel’s compass readings, a study has proposed. According to a US-based meteorologist, the liner’s last night sailing the Atlantic was illuminated by the aurora borealis — … Read more
Rusting iron has been found on the Moon and it was likely the result of oxygen being carried to the lunar surface from Earth by solar winds, a new study discovered. The oxidised iron mineral hematite – a form of rusted iron – was discovered at high latitudes on the Moon by planetary scientists from … Read more
It’s an ice GREEN van! Farmer fits his fleet of vehicles with solar panels to power the freezers so children don’t breathe in diesel fumes as they queue for lollies Ice cream maker David Baker said he disliked fumes billowing from his vans So he fitted three of his vans with solar panels which power … Read more
NASA is monitoring a ‘small but evolving dent’ in Earth’s magnetic field that could impact satellites and spacecraft. Stretching from South American and to southwest Africa is the South Atlantic Anomaly (SSA), which is a weakened spot in the field that allows charged particles from the sun to dip closer to the surface than usual. … Read more
A massive sunspot observed on the sun is turning towards Earth and is expected to increase in size over the next few days. The area, dubbed AR2770, has a ‘primary dark core’ the width of Mars and a number of crater-size ‘spotlets’ littering its surface. The sunspot is a member of Solar Cycle 25, the … Read more
Racing towards the future! Solar powered car attempts to break world record by driving 550 miles in 12 hours The Nuna Phoenix set off from a test track in the Netherlands this morning It must complete 294 laps and one metre to break current record of the Nuna8S Every two years the Vattenfall Solar Team … Read more
The amount of energy able to be harvested from ‘invisible light’ and used in solar cells has been given a significant boost thanks to a new technology. Scientists in Australia and the United States turned low energy light into heavy energy light able to be captured by solar cells using ‘oxygen’ as a key ingredient. … Read more