| Is Earth on fire? | | | The European Space Agency was asking this question late last week, as multiple fires burned in Lebanon and California. ESA wrote: "These are just some of the many fires 2019 has seen. Fires in the Amazon sparked a global outcry this summer, but fires have also been blazing in the Arctic, France, Greece, Indonesia as well as many other areas in the world." One new way experts track fires is with ESA's Sentinel-3 World Fire Atlas, whose prototype product and algorithm were presented at an international conference in Rome on October 3. Read more about 2019 fires and fire-tracking via satellite. | | |
| What are the seasons like on Uranus? | | | Uranus lies nearly sideways with respect to the plane of its orbit around the sun. That sideways tilt makes a huge difference between winter-summer on Uranus, and autumn-spring. Read more. | | |
What we're reading From the L.A. Times … Blackouts take effect across northern California as Kincade fire grows and winds kick up | | | Nearly a million homes and businesses in California were thrown into darkness Saturday as fear that monster winds could down power lines and spark wildfires prompted Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to shut off power across large swaths of the state. The threat of wind-propelled conflagrations also prompted the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to order more than 90,000 Sonoma County residents to leave their homes as the Kincade fire grew to 25,000 acres. “The next 72 hours is going to be challenging,” Gov. Gavin Newsom told reporters Saturday. “I can sugarcoat it, but I’m not.” Read more. | | |
