The Krafla Magma Testbed (KMT) Project is an ambitious program to harness the potential of the earth’s magma for extreme-scale geothermal energy production. Launched in 2014, and located at the Krafla volcanic system in northern Iceland, KMT is the world’s first field laboratory aimed at
The lower mantle of the Earth, beneath the Pacific and Indian Oceans, is dominated by two vast, continent-sized regions exhibiting low shear velocities and increased density. These massive blob structures, known as Large Low-shear Velocity Provinces (LLSVPs) or Superplumes, are hundreds of kilometers in height,
The Sun’s magnetic field goes through an approximately 11-year cycle during which it completely changes its polarity (i.e., the Sun’s South and North Poles trade places.) This phenomenon, called the Solar Cycle (or Schwabe cycle), leads to significant fluctuations in the frequency and intensity of
To understand the Hubble Tension, we must first understand the Hubble Constant. The Hubble constant (H0) is a value that measures the rate of expansion of the universe. As we know, the universe is constantly expanding. However, what it is expanding into is still an
Researchers at the University of Oxford have achieved the quantum entanglement of two strontium-based optical clocks. While previous entanglement demonstrations were limited to microscopic distances, this one appears to be the first reported case of macroscopic entanglement. Simply put, quantum entanglement is a phenomenon that
In a recent Nature Neuroscience paper, scientists from Boston University postulated that a specific type of brain stimulation called Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) could enable a path toward achieving long-lasting memory enhancement. They proposed that brain rhythms can be neuro-moderated through repetitive tACS to
Renewable energy has historically been costlier than fossilized energy. This is changing now. Lazard’s latest annual report on Levelized Cost of Energy Analysis highlighted that certain renewable energy technologies are becoming cost-competitive vis-à-vis conventional energy technologies. For example, see the chart below. Source: Levelized Cost
Lagrange Points (or L-points) recently came into the limelight during the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Named after the famous mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange, these are special points in space where the net gravitational forces of the earth and the sun (or to
In the 1980s, space scientists and astronomers started talking about the existence of a new planet (called Planet X) to explain certain phenomena, such as the unexplained residuals in the orbit of Neptune. As new discoveries emerged over time, the idea gradually evolved and this
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey is an exhaustive report on astronomy and astrophysics that the United States’ National Academy of Sciences publishes at the end of every decade. This report explains the current state of play in astronomy and astrophysics, and recommends the research
It has been over ninety years since the fundamental concept of Schwarzschild Wormholes (also called Einstein–Rosen Bridges) was first proposed. Over the years, scientists have been trying to determine if wormholes are actually a physical reality, and if they do exist, whether they are traversable
The speed of light is often considered to have a specific upper limit (c when light travels in a vacuum) but this limitation can be overcome under certain physical conditions. Pulses of light passing through specific materials can achieve group velocities that are higher or