Episodes

  • Device Generates Electricity at Night Using Infrared Radiation

    Device Generates Electricity at Night Using Infrared Radiation
    Oct 2 2024
    A research team from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has developed a device that uses a special semiconductor component to capture infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and convert it into electricity.The idea of generating electricity after the Sun sets might seem impossible, but the UNSW team has created a new technology to make this a reality, according to a report by Interesting Engineering on September 28. They have tested the device on Earth and are now planning to evaluate its usability in space. Their technology works on the principle of thermoradiative power generation, which involves harnessing the temperature difference between the Earth’s surface and the coldness of space.
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    3 mins
  • What Would the Process of Drilling Through the Earth Look Like?

    What Would the Process of Drilling Through the Earth Look Like?
    Oct 2 2024
    To penetrate the Earth's crust, mantle, and core, a drill would need to be made from specialized materials capable of withstanding enormous heat and pressure.Although humans have never drilled through the Earth, scientists can make some predictions about this process based on data from previous drilling projects. The Earth's diameter is 12,756 km, so drilling through the planet would require a massive drill and decades of work.
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    4 mins
  • Earth's Crustal Plate Flipped Beneath the Mediterranean

    Earth's Crustal Plate Flipped Beneath the Mediterranean
    Oct 2 2024
    As the African and Eurasian tectonic plates slowly collide, part of the Earth's crust now lies upside down deep beneath the Mediterranean.Spain frequently experiences unusually deep earthquakes. A new study published in The Seismic Record suggests that these events may be related to an overturned tectonic plate, according to Science Alert on February 29. Since 1954, there have been five major earthquakes in close proximity, occurring at depths greater than 600 km beneath the city of Granada, Spain, according to geologist Daoyuan Sun from the University of Science and Technology of China and Meghan Miller from the Australian National University. Earthquakes at such great depths are often accompanied by strong aftershocks. However, when Sun and Miller analyzed seismic data from a 2010 earthquake in Spain, they found no aftershocks.
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    3 mins
  • How Much Water Is in the Earth's Crust?

    How Much Water Is in the Earth's Crust?
    Oct 2 2024
    Researchers estimate that there are nearly 44 million km³ of water in the Earth's crust, more than the amount of water found in ice caps and glaciers on the surface.A 2021 study published in Geophysical Research Letters found that the amount of water stored beneath the Earth's surface in soil or rock pores, called groundwater, exceeds that in ice caps and glaciers. "There are approximately 43.9 million km³ of water in the Earth's crust," said Grant Ferguson, a hydrogeologist at the University of Saskatchewan and the lead author of the 2021 study. In comparison, Antarctica's ice contains about 27 million km³ of water, Greenland holds 3 million km³, and glaciers outside Antarctica and Greenland hold 158,000 km³, according to Live Science.
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    3 mins
  • First Ruby Grown Directly on a Ring.

    First Ruby Grown Directly on a Ring.
    Oct 1 2024
    For the first time, a "seed" ruby has grown into a full-sized gemstone directly on a platinum ring using a chemical process.Sofie Boons, a senior lecturer and jewelry design researcher at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, developed a chemical technique to stimulate the growth of rubies, BBC reported on September 26. This method allows a tiny ruby fragment to gradually increase in size when placed in a jewelry setting. UWE believes this "on-site" growth process is a world first.
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    3 mins
  • The Bone-Eating Bird That Bathes in Iron.

    The Bone-Eating Bird That Bathes in Iron.
    Oct 1 2024
    With its large size and unique habits, the bearded vulture impresses with its ability to eat bones and its striking red-stained feathers, a result of bathing in iron-rich mud.The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) stands at 100-115 cm tall with a wingspan of 2.5-2.85 meters, comparable to some of the largest birds of prey in North America. It has an imposing appearance, featuring a pale ivory head and piercing eyes accentuated by a striking orange-red outline. Its sharp gaze is further highlighted by a jet-black stripe extending down to its beak, resembling a thief's mask. A tuft of bristly feathers below the beak gives it its name, the "bearded" vulture.
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    3 mins
  • Earth's Crust Is Dripping into the Interior.

    Earth's Crust Is Dripping into the Interior.
    Oct 1 2024
    Researchers have found evidence of lithospheric dripping occurring beneath the Central Anatolian plateau in Turkey.Beneath the Konya Basin, a depression located on the Central Anatolian plateau, Earth's crust is slowly dripping deeper into the planet. This process, known as lithospheric dripping, is gradually reshaping the surface geology of both the basin and the surrounding plateau. The phenomenon was only recently identified on Earth, and geologists are still exploring its various expressions.
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    4 mins
  • Breakthrough in Mammoth Revival Efforts.

    Breakthrough in Mammoth Revival Efforts.
    Oct 1 2024
    A team of scientists at Colossal Biosciences has made a significant step toward reviving the extinct woolly mammoth by successfully generating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from elephants, making the process of de-extinction more feasible.
    In a major breakthrough, scientists have created elephant stem cells that could bring them closer to resurrecting the long-extinct woolly mammoth, according to a statement from Colossal Biosciences. The research team announced that they successfully derived iPSCs from Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). iPSCs are reprogrammed cells capable of becoming any type of cell in the body. This allows researchers to study the adaptive traits that made woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) unique from their closest living relatives and potentially edit their genes without needing tissue samples from living animals.
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    3 mins