Category: Global Systems Science

CLIMATE CHANGE addresses the controversial question of how human activities may be changing Earth’s climate. See Overview. Contents Chapter Titles Investigations Stay Current 1. The Greenhouse Effect 1.1 Light In Air1.2. Podcasts and Videos Chapter 1 2. What’s So Special About CO2? 2.1 Two Prisms2.2 IR TV Remote2.3 Molecules Absorb IR Energy2.4 Singing Piano Chapter […]

Staying current for Chapter 9 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } The Mysteries of the Cosmos – a panel discussion with astronomers Phil Plait, Mike Brown, Debra Fischer, Andrea Ghez, and Saul Perlmutter. Topics: newly discovered solar system objects; the black hole in our galaxy; expansion of our universe. 2025-07-29. Early universe’s ‘little red dots’ may […]

Staying current for Chapter 8 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } Articles from 2008–present NASA’s Kepler mission (to find Earth size planets in the habitable zones of stars)See GSS NASA Kepler page, Kepler Mission Chronology, and the archived Kepler education website.  2025-04-17. Alien planet’s atmosphere bears chemical hints of life, astronomers claim. By Daniel Clery, […]

Staying current for Chapter 7 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } See also articles from 2008–2020. Asteroid visualization (YouTube) – an animation of the solar system showing asteroid discoveries starting in 1980. Earth Crossers are Red. Earth Approachers (Perihelion less than 1.3AU) are Yellow. All Others are Green. Articles from 2021–present 2025-07-16. This star offers the […]

Staying current for Chapter 6 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } Articles from 2006–present 2025-08-20. Extremely stripped supernova reveals a silicon and sulfur formation site. By Steve Schulze et al, Nature. Abstract: Stars are initially powered by the fusion of hydrogen to helium. These ashes serve as fuel in a series of stages1,2,3, transforming massive […]

Staying current for Chapter 5 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } Articles from 2011–present 2011-05-25. NASA’s Kepler Yields the Next Harvest: A bounty of findings delivered at the 218th Meeting of the AAS in Boston. Kepler News. Excerpt: On the first day of the American Astronomical Society meeting in Boston, the NASA Kepler team held a […]

Staying current for Chapter 4 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } Articles from 2009–present 2025-03-28. [Video] Gaia: Rewriting the story of the Milky Way. By ESA – European Space Agency. For over a decade, ESA’s Gaia mission has mapped our galaxy with stunning precision—rewriting the story of the Milky Way. As its mission enters a new phase, […]

Staying current for Chapter 3 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } Articles from 2005–present 2025-06-11. Solar Orbiter gets world-first views of the Sun’s poles. By European Space Agency (ESA). Excerpt: Thanks to its newly tilted orbit around the Sun, the European Space Agency-led Solar Orbiter spacecraft is the first to image the Sun’s poles from outside the ecliptic plane. […]

Staying current for Chapter 2 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } Articles from 2009–present 2025-08-21. The Vera Rubin Observatory is ready to revolutionize astronomy. By Lisa Grossman, Science News. Excerpt: Perched on a high, flat-topped mountain called Cerro Pachón, the Rubin Observatory …can investigate some of the universe’s slowest, most eternal processes, such as the assembly […]

Staying current for Chapter 1 { A Changing Cosmos Contents } SEE ALSO: Life & Climate Chapter 9, What Happened to the Dinosaurs? and General Astronomy Resources Articles from 2002 – present 2025-06-28. This Is Not the Way We Usually Imagine the World Will End. By Katherine Kornei, The New York Times. Excerpt: If our species […]