New evidence that all stars are born in pairs

Written by Robert Sanders

Did our sun have a twin when it was born 4.5 billion years ago?

Almost certainly yes—though not an identical twin. And so did every other sunlike star in the universe, according to a new analysis by a theoretical physicist from UC Berkeley and a radio astronomer from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Harvard University.

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Earth Is Not in the Midst of a Sixth Mass Extinction

Written by Peter Brannen

At the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Smithsonian paleontologist Doug Erwin took the podium to address a ballroom full of geologists on the dynamics of mass extinctions and power grid failures—which, he claimed, unfold in the same way.

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Ravenous Black Holes Has Much More Compact Dust Than Thought

Written by eeDesignIT Editorial Team

The dust surrounding active, ravenous black holes is much more compact than previously thought, it has been found by researchers at the University of Texas-San Antonio using observations from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, SOFIA.

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Scientists unravel the interdecadal variability of the Afro-Asian summer monsoon system

Written by Advances in Atmospheric Sciences

The Afro-Asian monsoon is a belt-like system that extends from North Africa via South Asia to East Asia. Anomalies relating to its intensity and position can trigger widespread droughts and floods in different regions simultaneously. Therefore, investigating its interdecadal variability is of great scientific and societal importance.

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Letter to NY Times Editor

Written by Martin Hertzberg

At last, the New York Times publishes a letter from an informed climate change skeptic. Alexander McKay’s letter (6/11/17) was a breath of fresh air in the otherwise stale regurgitations of environmental propagandists that usually appear in the Times. 

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