Wildfire activity in Canada increased in July 2026, a time of year when lightning ignition typically increases, according to a seasonal outlook published by several North American fire agencies. The fires caused plumes of smoke across the United States and Canada, affecting air quality in both countries. This animation tracks brown carbon, the organic aerosols
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L-band radar data from the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite orbiting Earth between the United States and India was used to produce an image of Nunatak Zaterjavshijsja, a mountain peak in East Antarctica, jutting out in the middle of an ice stream flowing northeast toward the ocean. The blockage causes stresses in the ice,
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Miguel RubensteinNorthwestern University, Chicago We propose a mission to use ~10,000 actively steerable femtosats to map the ring composition, atmospheric composition and density, and distribution of Saturn’s magnetic field. Conducting in situ studies of Saturn’s rings with a single flagship mission, such as Cassini, would carry an unacceptably high risk of mission failure due to
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Demand for anything Elon Musk related is booming. The near-billionaire’s brain chip startup, Neuralink, is valued at up to $42 billion in recent secondary market transactions, according to correspondence seen by Business Insider and a person familiar with the matter. That’s a nearly five-fold increase from Neuralink’s last funding round last year, when the startup
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Benjamin SchäferRare Technologies, Inc. We propose a new approach for atmospheric sensing at altitudes of 30 to 100 km using photophoretically levitating tracers. These lightweight structures take advantage of sunlight to remain suspended for up to months at controlled altitudes and can be tracked remotely using lidar or satellite radar. Unlike natural sprays, these tracers
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