Category: Science & Tech

Fires have burnt beneath the Jharia coal fields in Jharkhand for decades now, releasing smoke and gases through cracks in the ground. And according to a new study, parts of this underground fire system may burn hotter and release more greenhouse gases than previously estimated. Researchers from the U.K. and India, including the CSIR-Central Institute...

A: The solar wind is a stream of charged particles flowing outwards from the sun. As the solar wind nears the magnetic field of a planet, it becomes compressed near the magnetic boundaries. This creates a difference in pressure, or pressure gradient, that squeezes the charged particles along the magnetic field, away from the stream....

Nuclear reactions are processes that alter the identity of an atomic nucleus. Atoms in itself are incredibly small, and the atomic nucleus occupies less than one ten-trillionth of an atom’s volume, despite containing almost all of its mass. While chemical reactions involve the rearrangement of electrons, nuclear reactions alter protons or neutrons. Be it fission...

A: There is no one ‘best’ way to reach the moon because space travel always trades off between time, fuel, and payload mass. If a mission carries a human crew, mission designers will prioritise speed to minimise the astronauts’ exposure to space radiation, at the expense of burning more fuel. Conversely, a robotic cargo mission...