Aircraft contrails are a climate menace. Can we rid the sky of them?
17 March 2021
The wispy cloud trails left by aircraft cause more warming than the carbon emissions from their fuel. Now there might be a simple way to stop them forming
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Premium
We can harness the solar wind to sail to the farthest corners of space
28 October 2020
Rockets eventually run out of fuel, which limits how far they can go. But now we are mastering the art of solar sailing, we can expect to keep exploring into distant, uncharted space
Safe, extra long-life nuclear batteries could soon be a reality
23 September 2020
An upgrade on the tech that powers spacecraft across the cosmos could soon be used to create incredibly long-lasting batteries back on Earth
Inside China's attempt to boost crop yields with electric fields
21 August 2019
In greenhouses across China, scientists are exposing lettuces and cucumbers to powerful electric fields in an attempt to make them grow faster. Can electroculture work?
The Northern Lights make a mysterious noise and now we might know why
3 April 2019
For 30 years, one man has been obsessed with the whisperings of the aurora borealis. His search for its origins may finally be over
A cracking idea: The radical way to open up frozen seas
7 March 2018
Arctic routes are getting busier and some ships get trapped in the ice. Rather than smash them out with brute force, there is a more elegant way to free them
Bigger bang theory: teach atoms new tricks to beef up explosives
26 July 2017
Mastering materials that have never been made before could deliver blasts big enough to shoot rockets to Mars
Wake-up call: How turbulence could reveal secret nuclear subs
24 May 2017
If there's truth in cold war claims about tracking subs, it would rewrite our theories of turbulence and foil our nuclear deterrent
