Forged by fire
Not all plants are destroyed by fire – some use it to thrive. James Romero looks at what naturally fire-prone ecosystems can teach us as large, anthropogenic wildfires become more common
James Romero
A science writer interested in variety of subjects including geology, planetary science, astronomy, astrobiology and archaeology.
In my career I have contributed articles to the likes of BBC Science Focus, National Geographic, New Scientist, Discover Magazine, Physics World, The Biologist, All About Space magazine, Space.com and Sky and Telescope magazine.
Please get in contact via email - mrjamesromerouk@gmail.com
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Sparking new life
Not all plants are destroyed by fire – some use it to thrive. James Romero looks at what naturally fire-prone ecosystems can teach us as large, anthropogenic wildfires become more common
800,000 years ago, a huge meteorite hit Earth. Scientists may have just found where.
In 2011 geologist Kerry Sieh and his husband were shopping in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, when they popped into a little jewelry shop to check out the country’s famous rubies and spinels. But once inside, a set of glassy, black blobs on the wall behind the counter caught Sieh's eye.
“Tektites,” announced the cashier, handing over a photocopied paper that indicated they formed in a mysterious meteorite strike—Earth’s last major impact, in fact, a catastrophic collision that could have been witnessed by our ancient hominin relatives......
Beyond Pluto
Our ability to peer into the murky edges of the solar system and map the frozen bodies that reside there has changed our understanding of the true scale and nature of the solar system. It has also shone a light on its past - how the current arrangement of rocky and icy worlds came to be - and how interactions with the wider galaxy might shape its future.
The plastic eaters
Evidence that some microbes have evolved the ability to metabolise plastic waste has raised hopes they could help clear up our oceans and landfill sites. James Romero explores the difficult realities of this approach
The Caveman's cookbook
Picture a prehistoric meal and what comes to mind? A fireside meat feast, perhaps served with a side of foraged nuts and fruit? Archaeologically speaking this scene, reminiscent of so many Hollywood films and museum dioramas, carries some weight. Butchered bones, discarded fruit stones and cracked nut shells are found in large quantities at hunter-gatherer settlements around the world. However, the adoption of techniques from the biological sciences are showing us another side of palaeolithic cuisine.
What was on the prehistoric menu?
Cutting edge bioscience is helping generate a new appreciation of hunter-gatherer cuisine - and evidence of culinary sophistication that pre-dates the first farmers
Seeing the Earth through alien eyes: an extraterrestrial view of our planet –
Aliens spying on us from across interstellar space is a classic trope of science fiction. But working out what those extraterrestrials might see if they pointed their telescopes at us could help in our quest for finding life on distant Earth-like planets, as James Romero explains
Swarm of Near-Earth Comets Linked to Recent Ice Giant Breakup
The longest-studied comets in our solar system have inspired ancient myths, religious fervor and modern scientific controversies. Now, the discovery of 88 asteroids and meteoroids orbitally aligned with one of them, Comet Encke, suggests that they all formed from the relatively recent breakup of an even bigger, icy comet.
Images: 10 incredible volcanoes in our solar system
Volcanoes on Earth are amazing, but our planet isn't the only world where lava has flowed. From Jupiter's moon Io, the most volcanic place in the solar system, to Olympus Mons on Mars, check out 10 amazing volcanoes in the planets and moons of the star system we call home.
Is the Moon getting more water?
Lunar water was a myth before it was a mystery. Now evidence is building that not only is lunar water present, but it is being actively supplied to the surface from some surprising sources around our solar system.
Chance the Hacker: How Earth Stayed Habitable
Was Earth destined to be a haven for life? Despite being dealt a favorable orbital and geochemical hand, new research suggests the relative climatic stability Earth enjoyed for billions of years is a rare gift subject to the whims of chance.
Exoplanet Earth: An Ultimate Selfie to Find Habitable Worlds
Twenty-five years after we discovered the first world orbiting another star, our exoplanet catalog numbers 4,301 and climbing. However, only about 51 exoplanets have been truly “seen.” and collecting light from more Earth-like planets remains beyond the reach of today’s telescopes. The necessary technological refinement is only a matter of time, however, and the payoffs could be significant.
Our sun is getting hotter
As a life-giver that warms and lights up our world, whose daily appearance has been celebrated and worshiped for millennia, it is easy to forget the true violent nature of the nurturing yellow ball that greets us every morning. As the Sun enters a new cycle of surface activity, we are only now beginning to fully appreciate the wide ranging ways our star’s changeable nature can impact our planet and modern lives.
Turning the red planet green
Pea puree appetisers, potato and nettle soup with rye bread and radish foam, and carrot sorbet to finish. In 2016 the New World Hotel in Holland hosted Wieger Wamelink and 50 guests for an unusual meal. All the ingredients were grown in model Martian and Lunar soils.
Halley's Comet and Maya Kings: Did a spectacular, once-in-a-millennium meteor shower prompt the crowning of a king?
It's the evening of April 10, AD 531, in the city of Caracol, a regional political center located within the foothills of the Maya Mountains. The Moon set a few hours earlier, and a blanket of stars, concentrated overhead into a wispy Milky Way, is prominent in the pre-morning twilight. Suddenly, a brilliant shooting star streaks across the sky. Almost immediately, another star falls from the heavens, and then another.
Hunting the hidden quarks
These objects now form the basis for our physical understanding of the universe” read the California Institute of Technology press notice, issued last May. It was released to mark the passing of the man who had given the world the fundamental building block of nature. Murray Gell-Manns named his discovery the ‘quark’, though discovery is probably the wrong word. The quark was only proposed back in in 1964 to provide a tidy solution to a messy situation particle physics had found itself in.
Neolithic Foodies: How we know that caviar was on the menu 6,500 years ago
Burnt food crust stuck to the bottom of a lazily washed 6000 year old German clay pot is the earliest evidence of caviar being prepared and eaten by ancient people. The discovery of the decadent dish is the latest demonstration of the archaeological potential of a modern protein analysis technique more commonly used for drug targeting, and more controversially to extracting proteins from dinosaur fossils
Trouble on the ISS
If the station is seen as a beacon of peace and a testament to not just human ingenuity but harmonious collaboration in pursuit of shared goals, the realities of life onboard can be far more testing. As we enter a new era of human space exploration, with proposed lunar bases and crewed missions to Mars, the lessons learnt keeping the station’s spacefaring residents safe, sane and secure are more vital than ever.
Saturn’s Rings Could Have Formed when Dinosaurs Walked the Earth | Planetary Science | Sci-News.com
Saturn’s rings are billions of years younger than we thought, say Cornell University researchers analyzing an almost forgotten set of data, collected 10 years ago by NASA’s Cassini mission.
Following 10 years of Cassini orbiting and observing the planet, scientific thinking suggested an ancient origin, billions of years ago.
However, efforts to pin down a more definite age have stalled as researchers struggled to determine the rings’ exact composition.
Whilst we know they are predominantly co
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