In the midst of China’s COVID-19 epidemic, the conditions for an unprecedented climate experiment have emerged. Climate researchers can measure in real time what happens to carbon emissions when one of the world’s largest economies is suddenly stalled, with entire cities locked down, highways emptied, airplanes grounded, factories shuttered and millions of people confined to their…

Astronomers have discovered the biggest explosion seen in the universe, originating from a super-massive black hole. Scientists reported Thursday that the blast came from a black hole in a cluster of galaxies 390 million light-years away. The explosion was so large it carved out a crater in the hot gas that could hold 15 Milky…

Earth has a tiny new companion in its journey around the sun — at least for now. The new “mini-moon” is an asteroid called 2020 CD3. It’s about 1.9 to 3.5 metres in diameter, roughly between the size of a cow and a hippopotamus. It was confirmed to have been captured and “temporarily bound to Earth” by the International…

Red pandas, the bushy-tailed and russet-furred bamboo munchers that dwell in Asian high forests, are not a single species but rather two distinct ones, according to the most comprehensive genetic study to date on these endangered mammals. Scientists said on Wednesday they found substantial divergences between the two species — Chinese red pandas and Himalayan red…

It appears that the hopes of people who wanted a nearby star to explode have been dashed.  After weeks of unprecedented dimming, Betelgeuse — a star in the constellation Orion — is beginning to brighten again. Both professional and amateur astronomers had been keeping a close eye on the unusual dimming of the red supergiant…

Academic freedom is at the heart of a court case between a University of Regina professor and her employer. Emily Eaton is an associate professor in the department of geography and environmental studies at the U of R. As part of her research into the effects of the fossil fuel industry on Saskatchewan education, she…