Sunflower mirrors power California's desert farm
(Image: Jamey Stillings www.jameystillings.com) IT TAKES a couple of seconds to work out what's going on in this photo. You're looking at a pair of heliostat mirrors – sunflower-like reflectors that...
View ArticleGraffiti Codes Let You Surf With a Wave of Your Phone (MIT - Massachusetts...
(Source: MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology) EVERYWHERE you look nowadays there seems to be a QR code. Those are the complicated square patterns that contain links to websites, for example,...
View ArticleAn answer to a lunar mystery: Why is the moon’s gravity so uneven? (MIT -...
(Source: MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Using a precision formation-flying technique, the twin GRAIL spacecraft have mapped the moon's gravity field, as depicted in this artist's...
View ArticleToday on New Scientist
Spy program shows just how well US knows its people The US government is spying on its own citizens' phone calls and internet data. So what can these huge datasets tell them about us? Tendrils of...
View ArticleUV rays in your fridge could keep strawberries perfect
Tired of fresh strawberries turning fuzzy after a few days in the refrigerator? Bathing them in dim ultraviolet light from LEDs could more than double their storage life, while preserving compounds...
View ArticleGraffiti codes let you surf with a wave of your phone
EVERYWHERE you look nowadays there seems to be a QR code. Those are the complicated square patterns that contain links to websites, for example, in a format smartphone cameras can read. Problem is,...
View ArticlePhotographer Jamey Stillings: Seeing the Big (Solar) Picture
A person might wonder how images of a bunch of mirrors in a desert would yield beautiful -- and important -- photography. Welcome to the work of Jamey Stillings. In January 2013, our friends at the...
View ArticleMojave Mirrors: World's Largest Solar Energy Ready to Shine
The Ivanpah Valley of the Mojave Desert in California is spiky yucca trees, long-nosed leopard lizards, loggerhead shrikes, and a rare species of tortoise—and soon, the largest solar thermal energy...
View ArticleFall 2013 University Forum Public Lecture Series (UNLV - University of...
(Source: UNLV - University of Nevada, Las Vegas) University Forum brings experts from UNLV and across the nation to discuss a range of political, social and cultural issues this fall. Media Contact:...
View ArticleTerramechanics research aims to keep Mars rovers rolling (MIT - Massachusetts...
(Source: MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology) In May 2009, the Mars rover Spirit cracked through a crusty layer of Martian topsoil, sinking into softer underlying sand. The unexpected sand trap...
View ArticleOpportunity rover finds more hints of Mars habitability
NASA’s Opportunity rover on Mars has made one of its most significant discoveries to date after it identified a rock laden with clay minerals, more evidence that water once flowed on the red planet....
View ArticleMore from Scientific American
Another week, another round of physics link-y goodness! On October 23, the Bad Astronomer wished everyone a Happy Mole Day and gave 6.02 x 10^23 reasons to celebrate. The Financial Times magazine ran...
View ArticleIvanpah: World's Largest Solar Thermal Energy Plant Starts Production in...
The much-anticipated Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System has kicked into action in California’s Mojave Desert. The 3,500 acre facility forms the world’s largest solar thermal energy plant, and...
View ArticleWorld's Largest Solar Plant to Go Online in California
Zlatica Hoke WASHINGTON — The world's largest solar thermal plant is set to go online in California by the end of the year. While wind and sun-generated energy are generally considered clean, unlike...
View ArticleOld Mars rover digs up evidence for drinkable water
Update, 24 January 2014: The results reported below have now been published in the journal Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.1248097) – the day before the 10th anniversary of Opportunity's landing on Mars...
View ArticleCalifornia desert mirror energy or green mirage
The partisan scapegoating of global warming has baited political and allied business opportunists with loose money to promote very expensive “renewable” and “sustainable” energy projects – most of...
View ArticleAlpine teachers are fortunate to have jobs
Regarding the Feb. 20 front-page story “Students who won scholarships told money has run out,” I was struck by the news item next to it, “Clock ticks down for Alpine; strike is set to begin today.” In...
View ArticleVirgin Galactic's space tourism ship breaks sound barrier
Company selling tickets to ride for $200,000 2 sec. 3 sec. 4 sec. 5 sec. 6 sec. Buy Sun Media photos Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo flies over the Mojave Desert in California April 29, 2013 shortly...
View ArticleUS, California release roadmap for solar projects
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell on Tuesday unveiled a proposed roadmap for developing massive solar and wind projects in California's Mojave Desert while trying to minimize damage to desert habitat and...
View ArticleSolar plant's big goals hit big problems with "streaming" birds
MOJAVE DESERT Just before Interstate 15 exits California for Nevada, drivers catch an astonishing sight: A five-mile swath of desert covered by mirrors and spiked with towers reflecting dazzling beams...
View ArticleBird threats from renewables include solar zapping, wind turbine death
Reminiscent of a sunray being directed with a magnifying glass at a hapless ant on the sidewalk, environmentalists have been warning for months about the deadly consequences to birds flying over the...
View ArticleBIG SOLAR, BIG PROBLEMS
MOJAVE DESERT Just before Interstate 15 exits California for Nevada, drivers catch an astonishing sight: A five-mile swath of desert covered by mirrors and spiked with towers reflecting dazzling...
View ArticleTwo Thirds of Nevada's Summers Fall Outside Long-Term Regional Solar Averages...
(Source: Vaisala Oyj) Two Thirds of Nevada's Summers Fall Outside Long-Term Regional Solar Averages Page Content Solar Performance Maps show high variability throughout June, July, and August based on...
View ArticleUGA’s SREL scientists give desert tortoises in California a head start (The...
(Source: The University of Georgia) Aiken, S.C. - Research scientists from the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory participated in the recent dedication ceremony of the Ivanpah...
View ArticleCalifornia solar projects plan undergoing major overhaul
With billions of dollars in federal stimulus money in hand, the Obama administration set out five years ago on a grand experiment in the California desert. The goal: Open public lands to...
View ArticleMojave National Preserve celebrates dedication of Ivanpah Desert Tortoise...
(Source: NPS - National Park Service) News Release Date: September 5, 2014 Contact: Linda Slater, 760 252-6122 BARSTOW, Calif. - Yesterday Mojave National Preserve, in partnership with National Park...
View ArticleOne pilot dead, one parachutes to ground in SpaceShipTwo test-flight failure
November 1, 2014 -- Updated 0424 GMT (1224 HKT) (CNN) -- The first sign there was a problem with Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo came at about 45,000 feet, just two minutes after the spaceplane...
View ArticleA Day in the Mojave Looking for Blueprints
Off a blood-red road that bleeds away from the small driver's-respite town of Baker in the middle of the Mojave desert--a bizarre little town that boasts an Alien Fresh Jerky tuck-shop and the Mad...
View ArticleThe constant gardener
Reusing and recycling is the mantra for 72-year-old nature lover Madan Gopal Kohli. He has been maintaining nearly 20,000 plants, which include more than hundred varieties of flowers, on his terrace...
View ArticleBig Mars Impact Gave Earth Most of Its Martian Meteorites
A look at Mojave Crater on Mars. The rays are evidence of debris thrown up from an impact that happened about five million years ago. The arrow points towards crater clusters used to estimate the age...
View ArticleMojave Crater: Source of Martian Meteorites?
Where did the Martian meteorites called shergottites come from? A team of European researchers believe their launch pad was a fresh-looking 55-km-wide crater punched into ancient terrain about 3...
View ArticleDebris from Virgin spaceship came close to moving trucks, high school
Newly released evidence in the investigation of last fall's crash of an experimental spaceship over the Mojave Desert is raising questions about whether federal aviation regulators are protecting the...
View ArticleNew solar plant nears approval in California desert
New plan would use “power tower” technology used at Ivanpah facility above Despite serious environmental...
View ArticleEmerging solar plants scorch birds in mid-air
ELLEN KNICKMEYER and JOHN LOCHER Associated Press Comments This October 2013 photo provided by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service shows a burned MacGillivray's Warbler that was found at the Ivanpah...
View ArticleLife’s Greatest Secret: The Story of the Race to Crack the Genetic Code by...
We know about Crick, Watson and the double helix. But how did scientists solve the other great mystery of our existence? ...
View ArticleMars meteorite could solve mysteries of Red Planet
Tweet Washington, March 7 (ANI): A piece of rock that found its way from Mars to a desert in northwest Africa may help reveal the history and evolution of Mars. Researchers pinpoint Mojave Crater, a...
View ArticleLunar crater named for former SwRI Space Scientist David C. Slater (Southwest...
(Source: Southwest Research Institute) For immediate release San Antonio - August 12, 2015 - At the request of scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), the International Astronomical Union...
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