Tag: Carmen Roberts

Using Science to Debunk Anti-Mask Claims

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

Bill Nye the Science Guy takes to TikTok to explain why everyone should wear a mask.

Bill Nye urges everyone to please wear a mask.

He’s gone viral but in a good way. A TikTok video by TV’s Bill Nye the Science Guy becomes a social media smash with more than 15 million likes. In it he uses physics, a few props and sound effects to explain how masks work to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Here shooting down the false claim Covid can travel thorough masks. “Because viruses don’t travel by themselves. They travel in droplets of spit and snot.” As he demonstrates, “When the droplet gets into the fibers of a mask, it gets trapped. This is not that hard to understand, everybody.” And that Nye says is why we have rules about wearing a mask. Carmen Roberts. Fox News.

SpaceX Aborts Starship’s First Test Launch

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

The first test flight for SpaceX’s new Starship did not go as planned.

SpaceX Starship SN8 Prototype on Launchpad in South Texas

The countdown for the test launch of SpaceX’s next-generation Starship prototype went well right up until T-minus 1.3 seconds.

 Countdown: 3, 2, 1 …

SpaceX aborted the launch from its south Texas site when it detected something abnormal with one or more of the three Raptor engines. The next test launch to send the prototype 8 miles high will depend on how long it takes to fix the problem. Whatever that is. Carmen Roberts. Fox News.

SpaceX wants to use its Starship to carry people and cargo to the moon and beyond.

Japan Brings Back Unique Asteroid Samples

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

Japanese spacecraft delivers asteroid dust from 180 million miles away in space.

Hayabusa2 Swings by Earth to Deliver Asteroid Samples

After spending 6 years in space, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft swung by Earth and delivered precious samples from a distant asteroid. Pieces of dust and soil that could provide clues to the origin of the solar system and life on Earth. On board a capsule launched from the spacecraft are the world’s first subsurface samples from an asteroid. These came from Ryugu about 180-million miles and one year away. Hayabusa2’s work won’t end today. The spacecraft’s already on its way to another distant asteroid. A journey that will take 10 years – one way. Carmen Roberts Fox News.

2020’s Biggest Meteor Shower

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

The December skies will be filled with lots of shows including the Geminid meteor shower
which starts the night of December 4.

The Geminids will peak overnight between December 13 and 14.

Look up tonight and you may see the annual Geminid meteor shower which will last through the 17th. NASA says this year’s show in space will be brighter because it coincides with a nearly new moon, making the skies even darker.

The Geminids arrives each year as the Earth plows through the debris left in the orbit of an asteroid known as Phaethon or what NASA says could actually be a burnt-out comet. For the best view find a spot away from bright city lights and then just look up. Carmen Roberts. Fox News.

You can catch another show on December 21 when Jupiter and Saturn appear so close they will seem to be “one” in the night sky. They won’t make this great conjunction again until 2080.

Global Warming ‘Point of No Return’

Posted on by Carmen Roberts

A scientific study produces what may be alarming news about global warming.

Polar bears have less ice for hunting as temperatures rise.

The authors of the study say, “The world is already past a point of no return for global warming,” that even if human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced to zero temperatures may continue to rise for centuries. The study published in the British journal, Scientific Reports, says the only way to stop global warming now is to extract enormous amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Several other climate scientists are criticizing the study though, and the authors admit their computer model study is small, so they hope others will use bigger ones to explore their discoveries. Carmen Roberts. Fox News