Bee with radar

BORIS Johnson will today warn US President Joe Biden and other leaders they must slash emissions this decade or be remembered as the people who failed the planet. The PM will urge them to match the UK's target of net zero by 2050 at the President's major climate summit this afternoon. Speaking on Earth Day, he will say: "The UK has shown it's possible to slash emissions while growing the economy. If we want to stop climate change, then this must be the year." It comes as MPs from across the political spectrum have today come together to vow new green goals to help save the planet. To celebrate Earth Day with an international day of action, Britain's politicians have vowed to go even greener to combat the climate emergency. Later today the US President will host a huge international summit online to address world leaders and call on them to do more to save the world before it's too late. He and the PM will push others to match the UK's ambitious climate targets, … [Read more...] about Earth Day 2021: Boris Johnson leads climate calls as MPs come together to make pledges to save the planet

Fallout from nuclear bomb testing during the Cold War has been found in honey produced along the US East Cost, a new study reveals. A team at William & Mary University discovered cesium-137, a byproduct of nuclear fission involving the reaction of uranium and plutonium, in more than half of 122 samples taken from Main to Florida . Although the levels are not enough to harm humans, the results show the long-lasting effects of nuclear fallout on the environment. However, honey samples with higher levels derived from parts of the US that receive less precipitation and soil with low levels of potassium. The team suggests cesium and potassium share similarities, so plants searching for the nutrient absorb the fallout instead – thus resulting in pollen being contaminated. A team at William & Mary University discovered cesium-137, a byproduct of nuclear fission involving the reaction of uranium and plutonium, in more than half of 122 samples taken from Main to … [Read more...] about Honey produced in US contains traces of radioactive fallout from nuclear bomb testing during the Cold War, study finds

NASA'S Perseverance Mars rover has created oxygen from thin air, paving the way for future manned missions to the planet. The $2billion robot converted carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere into pure, breathable oxygen, the US space agency said on Wednesday. Get all the latest Science news Keep up-to-date with the top Space & Astronomy stories All the latest Archaelogy news from dinosaurs to Ancient artefacts The landmark achievement was made Tuesday by an experimental device aboard Perseverance, a six-wheeled science rover that landed on the Red Planet on February 18 after a seven-month journey from Earth. In its first activation, the toaster-sized instrument dubbed MOXIE, short for Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment, produced about five grams of oxygen. That's equivalent to roughly 10 minutes' worth of breathing for an astronaut, Nasa said. Although the initial output was modest, the feat marked the first experimental … [Read more...] about Nasa’s Perseverance rover creates BREATHABLE oxygen paving way for manned Mars missions

NASA has completed the first controlled flight on another planet following the lift-off of its Mars helicopter-drone, Ingenuity. The agency announced the successful launch of the ultralightweight robot on Monday following a week of delays caused by technical issues. The drone flew under two 1.2m-long rotors that spin in opposite directions at up to 2,500rpm. That's extremely fast – about two -thirds the speed of sound – to give the four-pound (two-kilo) robot lift through thin Martian atmosphere. The flight took place in the early hours of Monday morning but was only confirmed once data reached mission control three hours later. "Altimeter data confirms that Ingenuity has performed its first flight – the first flight of a powered aircraft on another planet," announced an engineer in Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as the control room cheered. A short clip sent back by the Perseverance rover showed the four pound chopper grounded at first, hovering three meters … [Read more...] about Nasa’s Mars helicopter completes first controlled flight following lift-off of Ingenuity