The entire United States will fall into shadow as a solar eclipse passes on August 21

Millions of people, from students to rocket scientists, are poised to contribute to a massive scientific effort to study the total solar eclipse that will sweep across the United States August 21. The entire country will fall into shadow as the “Great American Eclipse” passes, though the darkest path, or “totality,” will be contained in a 70-mile ribbon that moves from Oregon to South Carolina.

And with technology everywhere, from smartphones to satellites, the eclipse will be captured as never before, and will offer scientists a wealth of new insights on how the Sun works...

1. A schematic of the sampling device built by researchers to measure levels of toxic particulate matter present during rush hour inside of a typical car cabin
2. A dashboard view from a vehicle taking measurements of certain types of pollutants during rush hour in Atlanta

In-car air study of commuting cars finds dangers to human health. The first in-car measurements of exposure to pollutants that cause oxidative stress during rush hour commutes has turned up potentially alarming results. The levels of some forms of harmful particulate matter inside car cabins was found to be twice as high as previously believed. Most traffic pollution sensors are placed on the ground alongside the road and take continuous samples for a 24-hour period...

The vinebot is a tube of soft material that grows in one direction. Credit: L.A. Cicero/Stanford News Service

A newly developed vine-like robot can grow across long distances without moving its whole body. It could prove useful in search and rescue operations and medical applications. Imagine rescuers searching for people in the rubble of a collapsed building. Instead of digging through the debris by hand or having dogs sniff for signs of life, they bring out a small, air-tight cylinder. They place the device at the entrance of the debris and flip a switch. From one end of the cylinder, a tendril extends into the mass of stones and dirt, like a fast-climbing vine. A camera at the tip of the tendril gives rescuers a view of the otherwise unreachable places beneath the rubble.

This is just o...

The yellow arrow marks the superluminous supernova DES15E2mlf in this false-color image of the surrounding field. North is up and east is left. This image was observed with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) gri-band filters mounted on the Blanco 4-meter telescope on Dec. 28, 2015, around the time when the supernova reached its peak luminosity. Credit: Observers: D. Gerdes and S. Jouvel

At a distance of 10 billion light years, a supernova detected by the Dark Energy Survey team is one of the most distant ever discovered and confirmed. The death of a massive star in a distant galaxy 10 billion years ago created a rare superluminous supernova that astronomers say is one of the most distant ever discovered...