Opinion

Our space junk problem just got a cheap solution

This month, a hunk of space junk hurtled toward the International Space Station, putting the safety of astronauts and their orbiting outpost at risk. Fortunately, the cosmic hazard was detected early and an emergency maneuver rocketed the $150 billion station out of harm’s way. Such episodes, ...

Opinion

Throwing shade is solar energy’s new superpower

In rural America, the shoulder-high corn is increasingly competing with a new cash crop: solar power. Acres of solar panels shine brightly in fields along interstates and rural byways, signaling a change in how America’s farming country generates income. The need for a happy marriage between t...

Opinion

The space race the world needs is finally starting

Elon Musk probably took it for granted that his space exploration company would launch and land the first private space mission to Mars. However, if he thought that SpaceX had cornered the market, he no longer does.This week, two space startups announced a bold plan to send a lander to Mars by the e...

Opinion

Rich tourists can actually preserve the Arctic

Are crowded airports and hotels ruining your summer vacation plans? A cruise to the North Pole on the world’s first and only luxury icebreaker might be just the antidote.The custom-built tourist ship Le Commandant Charcot plowed through sea ice on July 13 to make its first successful passenger...

Opinion

Is NASA’s new telescope worth the risks?

On Christmas Day, NASA is scheduled to launch the James Webb Space Telescope. If successful, it could alter humanity’s understanding of its place in the universe and reinvigorate American science and technology. But at a cost of some $11 billion, the new instrument is also a significant risk.N...

Opinion

A catastrophic space collision is a possibility

In March, a Chinese satellite appeared to spontaneously disintegrate in orbit, leaving a trail of debris high above the Earth. The mystery persisted until last month, when an astronomer at the Center for Astrophysics announced the answer. Yunhai 1-02, as the satellite is known, collided with a piece...

Opinion

Hit hard by drought, farmers get creative

In Goodhue, Minnesota, 60 miles southeast of the Twin Cities, the crops and pastures aren’t nearly as tall as they should be this time of year. I’m riding in an ATV next to Jared Luhman, a 27-year-old farmer, bouncing across the 700 acres where he and his family raise red angus cattle un...

Opinion

As satellites proliferate, telescopes go dark

For millennia, humans have peered into the night sky hoping to divine their place in the universe. Telescopes and other technologies allowed them to look ever deeper. Now that age-old custom is running up against a very modern threat: satellites.More than 3,300 operational satellites are currently i...

Opinion

Should Olympians be next in line for vaccines?

Should young, healthy Olympic athletes receive priority for Covid-19 vaccines?The Indian government thinks so. With its blessing, athletes are set to leap over hundreds of millions of more vulnerable people to receive doses before this summer’s Olympic Games. In Lithuania, Hungry and Serbia, a...

Opinion

Japan’s new Olympic experiment is a risky mistake

Just how high a price are the citizens of Japan willing to pay for the privilege of hosting the Olympics? That question is getting a partial answer this month as a series of baseball games are being hosted — with government approval — in crowded stadiums. Various measures to protect...

Opinion

Banning glitter won’t save the oceans

This year, retailers have declared war on an unlikely enemy: Christmas glitter. Those sparkly bits of plastic that make ornaments twinkle, wrapping paper glimmer and wreaths shimmer are increasingly seen as an environmental hazard. In response, three British retailers are eliminating them from gift ...

Opinion

Covid-19: When street food gets sanitised

With the COVID-19 pandemic shuttering restaurants around the world, it’s easy to forget that for billions of people, “eating out” means just that: ready-to-eat snacks, meals and beverages prepared by vendors and hawkers in street-side carts and stalls. In developing countries,...

Opinion

Virus quarantine has serious side effects

 In late January, the Chinese government responded to the outbreak of a new coronavirus with one of the world’s oldest medical procedures: quarantine. By February, more than 760 million people faced a residential lockdown of some sort. Those unlucky enough to be infected might very well b...

Opinion

WHO should demand more of China

Late last month, the World Health Organization began offering to send an international team of experts to China to observe and help with the outbreak of a novel coronavirus.On Monday, that team of experts was finally allowed to start its investigations. The Chinese government, however, will not let ...

Opinion

Southeast Asia no longer wants the world’s trash

Southeast Asian nations no longer want your trash. Last week, Malaysia announced it was sending 3,300 tonnes of scrap plastics including CDs, insulated electric cables and milk jugs back to countries ranging from Australia to Bangladesh, Canada, China, Japan and Saudi Arabia. Days later, the Philipp...