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Science of tea’s compounds and flavors affected by processing
How about a cuppa? Tea is the world’s most popular drink, except for plain old water. Whether we’re talking matcha, Earl Grey or oolong, it’s all made from the leaves of one species of plant, Camellia sinensis. (Any other tea-like brew is technically a tisane or herbal tea.) That one tea plant yields teas in
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The crazy nests built by leaf-cutter ants
The first time Marcela Cosarinsky saw a nest of Atta vollenweideri leaf-cutter ants, it was the late 1990s and she was in an Argentinian grassland studying termites. Local children showed her a mound of earth nearly broad enough to park a Jeep on, crowned with chimney-like tubes. She was shocked that insects could build something
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What Happens When Light Goes Boom? Part 4: What Brad Bradington Is Good For
(This is the final part of a series on Cherenkov radiation — the “light boom.” Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 first.) So we know what Cherenkov radiation is. We know how it works. We know that Pavel Cherenkov spent three years poking a glowing bottle of water before anyone believed him. Now:
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“Immature” Lunar Soil Could Be Suitable for Roadways on the Moon
Between the Artemis Program, the ESA’s Moon Village, and the Sino-Russian International Lunar Research Station (ILRS), the next step in space exploration is clear: We’re going back to the Moon, and this time, to stay! This plan requires significant investment, research, development, and strategies adapted to lunar conditions. In particular, mission planners are concerned about
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What Happens When Light Goes Boom? Part 3: Brad Bradington Sprints
(This is Part 3 of a series on Cherenkov radiation — the “light boom.” Read Part 1 and Part 2 first.) We have our material — the crowd at the red carpet. We have our star particle — Brad Bradington. We have our paparazzi. Let’s watch what happens. Brad steps out of his limo and
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How a Black Hole and a Shredded Star Could Light Up a Galaxy
In 2014, a strange cloudy object called G2 made a close approach to Sagittarius A*, (Sag A*) the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy. Astronomers were pretty excited, partly because they thought it might get torn apart by Sag A*’s intense gravitational pull. That didn’t happen, and the event turned
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Small Trojan Asteroids Defy Expectations
Understanding the beginning of the solar system requires us to look at some very strange places. One such place is at the so-called “Trojan” asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit in front of and behind it. But for a long time, these cosmic time capsules have held a mystery for astronomers: why are they color-coded? The
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Life Beyond Biosignatures: A New Method In The Search For Life
Two factors dominate our search for life and habitability elsewhere in the galaxy. The first is liquid water, which, as far as we know, is necessary for life. When we find exoplanets, scientists try to determine if they’re in their stars’ habitable zones. Under the right atmospheric conditions, liquid water could persist there. The second
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Comet R3 PanSTARRS at Perihelion
Comet R3 Pan-STARRS is about to put on its climatic perihelion act. We’re one comet down, and one to go for spring season 2026. We recently wrote about prospects for sungrazer C/2026 A1 MAPS and comet C/2025 R3 Pan-STARRS in April 2026. While the bad news is, Comet A1 MAPS disintegrated like so many sungrazers
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To Survive Deep Space, Astronauts May Owe a Debt to Microscopic Worms
Living long-term on the Moon means surviving the devastating toll that deep space takes on a human body. Astronauts in low gravity environments suffer muscle and bone loss, vision-altering fluid shifts, and heavy radiation exposure – all of which are incredibly hazardous to our biology. So, to help future lunar explorers survive, a new crew
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