Tag Archives: astro201

Exploration of Europa

Posted on March 17, 2014 by joshkphilips

Image Source For years now, scientists have been fascinated with Jupiter’s fourth largest moon known as Europa. What makes Europa such an interesting subject is the fact that it is home to a saltwater ocean beneath a layer of ice. Such characteristics make Europa the most likely other place in our Solar System to have […] Continue reading →

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Geological Activity of Mercury

Posted on March 17, 2014 by joshkphilips

Image Source For many years, scientists have regarded Mercury as a planet that has little to offer, as it is more or less a ‘dead’ planet. Mercury has acquired such dull attributes given its treacherous location in the Solar System. Its proximity to the Sun allows the sun-facing side of mercury to reach temperatures of […] Continue reading →

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Gas giants are a girl’s best friend

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Asad Pabani

Rappers these days seem to emphasize how they ‘make it rain’ with money, sex, and drugs. But the gas giants of our solar system seem to have one-upped these ‘young upstarts’ (as my grandparents would say) by making it rain diamonds. Yes, literally, diamonds. According to findings by Dr Kevin Baines, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison […] Continue reading →

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Am I beautiful enough for you?

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Asad Pabani

Every teenager can confess to that one time when they saw a girl and thought she was the one. She was absolutely perfect, in looks and in personality. Let’s be real, it was only the looks. But when she got acne, that aura of divine beauty around her suddenly disappeared for you. You found it […] Continue reading →

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The global warming “controversy” and the politicization of science

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Drew Hamilton

Despite popular, largely politically-based claims to the contrary, global warming is a scientific observation explained by an accepted, well-defined scientific theory. Most debate over whether global warming exists and how it is caused occurs not among scientists who study climate change, but among the general public, mostly due to a lack of understanding and what… Continue reading →

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NASA’s Budget Problems

Posted on March 16, 2014 by paanvaannd

  Space should be made more accessible to the average person. That should be one of the main concerns for mankind as a whole in the next few decades. For years, interest in space has been dwindling, and it seems that all that is left are the last few dying embers of a once great … Continue reading NASA’s Budget Problems → Continue reading →

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The Probability of Life “Out There”

Posted on March 16, 2014 by paanvaannd

  Is there other intelligent life in the universe? Mathematically speaking, there’s almost got to be some. In fact, it would be quite surprising to find out that there aren’t other intelligent life forms, let alone simple life. Life as we know it can exist in a plethora of places and environments on Earth itself, … Continue reading The Probability of Life “Out There” → Continue reading →

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Goodness Gracious, Great Balls of Fire

Posted on March 16, 2014 by colepospisil

The Sun is often referred to as a great big ball of burning gas, perhaps most famously by Pumbaa in Disney’s The Lion King. This is actually a misconception because the hydrogen in the Sun does not burn, but rather emits energy through the process of nuclear fusion. If the Sun was really burning, then […] Continue reading →

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Super Volcanoes

Posted on March 16, 2014 by efb28

As we know, volcanoes have a significant impact on how Earth looks today. They replenish the atmosphere and fill in craters. However, those are just regular volcanic eruptions. Super volcanoes have magma chambers (which power the explosion) that dwarf that of “normal” volcanoes. A super volcano eruption could wipe out mankind. Luckily these explosions are incredibly […] Continue reading →

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Aurora

Posted on March 16, 2014 by eschellhase

The Earth has a magnetosphere that protects us from charged solar particles coming from the sun. However, some charged particles manage to penetrate the magnetosphere. These then follow the magnetic lines of our magnetosphere. If these gain enough energy they can travel down into Earth’s atmosphere. Here they hit atoms and molecules, causing them to […] Continue reading →

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