Tag: Light

Science Behind the Brightest Auroras

Link — Tech

Though scientists have long understood the basic mechanism behind auroras (aka the northern lights or southern lights), a new paper published by Nature Communications offers “definitive evidence” on the spectacular physical process behind the brightest auroras. These colorful, undulating displays typically occur when particles charged by the Sun enter into Earth’s magnetosphere, collide with molecules and generate energy. However, physicists from the University of Iowa; …

Via arstechnica.com

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Eye Care in the Digital Age

Link — Culture

Staring at a screen, especially for extended periods of time, can come at quite the cost: squinting (a reaction to both impaired vision and bright lights) causes wrinkles and blue light (from the sun and our screens) can cause photoaging, skin laxity (the deterioration of collagen and elastin) and hyperpigmentation (brown spots). Blurred vision is another symptom of excessive blue light exposure, and can occur …

Via wsj.com

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Outer Space Might Not Be Dark After All

Link — Culture

“Is space truly black?” Tod Lauer, an astronomer at the National Science Foundation’s NOIRLab, questions. Now, courtesy of research from NASA’s New Horizons team and their spacecraft (which is approximately 4,000,000,000 miles from Earth), we understand that no is quite possibly the answer. The team argues that if you were to remove all sources of visible light from our night sky, there would still be …

Via npr.org

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