Sun

Science

This Is How Our Sun Will Look When It Dies

4:30PM February 1, 2012 | Jesus Diaz

In a few million years, our dear sun will look like this, a beautiful glowing eye of spent starstuff trash in the shape of Sauron’s Eye. And no ring is going to save us from this one. More »


Science

The Spectacular Auroras Caused By The Biggest Solar Storm In Seven Years

6:20AM January 28, 2012 | Jesus Diaz

On January 22, a January 22 M8.7 class flare caused the biggest solar storm since 2005. Aeroplanes had to change routes and the power grid and satellites were affected. It also caused some of the best auroras ever seen. More »


Science

How The Biggest Solar Storm Since 2005 Is Going To Affect You

11:05AM January 25, 2012 | Jesus Diaz

There’s a solar Coronal Mass Ejection travelling towards us at 2253km/s, the largest solar storm since 2005. It will hit Earth around 9am ET (1am AEDT), causing fluctuations on the power grid and disruptions to the Global Positioning System. More »


Science

Watch As Millions Of Tons Of Gas Erupt On Sun’s Surface

4:20AM October 11, 2011 | Kristen Philipkoski

This video of an M-class solar flare condenses three hours of explosion into a dramatic 1-minute video. The mesmerising part is the graceful way the fountain of flowing plasma floats back to the sun’s surface. It doesn’t just plop back down, rather, it follows the star’s magnetic field lines. More »


Science

Unique Video Captures The Sun Changing Its Spots

10:43PM August 31, 2011 | Jesus Diaz

We knew that sunspots change quite rapidly from photos, but this video shows how fast this phenomenon is. The video was made from visible light frames captured by the NASA SDO’s Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager. More »


Science

Stanford Researchers Totally Saw Those Sunspots Before You Did

4:20PM August 25, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

We’ve studied sunspots for over 400 years but have never been able to reliably predict their appearances. That is, until three Stanford researchers developed a technique to find them days before they hit the Photosphere. More »


Geek Out

How To Make Fire From Ice

7:20AM August 20, 2011 | Jesus Diaz

Save this one for next winter or in case you get lost in the tundra without a lighter: Pick up some ice from a creek and polish it until you make a lens capable of igniting some foliage. [The Daily What]


Geek Out

What Kind Of Beach Uses 7937 Umbrellas To Block Out The Sun?

11:56PM August 15, 2011 | Casey Chan

This is Haeundae Beach in South Korea. It’s ridiculously popular with up to a million visitors per day. But the funny thing is, it’s not the open sunny beach we know. Instead, it’s lined with umbrellas to block out the sun. More »


Cars

Fastest Solar Car Ever Built Headed To Australia

7:45AM August 15, 2011 | Jack Loftus

Did Stanford’s Solar Car Project build the fastest solar-powered car ever assembled by human hands? Possibly. We’ll now for sure when the vehicle, called Xenith, hits the pavement in Australia during the World Solar Challenge. More »


Science

World’s Biggest Solar Furnace Delivers Tiny Slice Of The Sun

1:30AM July 27, 2011 | Andrew Tarantola

What’s been around since the ’70s, has more mirrors than Studio 54, and generates more heat than John Travolta dancin’-Dancin’-DANCIN’ in a polyester pimp suit? The world’s biggest solar furnace obviously. More »