Johnny Simon

New images from NASA satellites show just how much the Florida Panhandle was impacted by Hurricane Michael, the brutal storm that slammed into the state with Category 4 strength last week. It has been blamed on at least 16 deaths in Florida and several more across southern states after it was downgraded to a tropical storm. There are still over 1,000 people who have not been accounted for.

Nikon recently announced the winners of it Small World Photomicrography Competition, which recognizes the best photography of the unseen, microscopic world around us.

Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji market, the largest seafood market in the world, closed last week after eight decades of operation. Hosting tens of thousands of merchants, buyers and tourists, the chaotic Tsukiji was an icon of fast-moving, food-obsessed Tokyo.

A recent UN report spelled out the grim state of climate change in exceedingly bleak terms. Without a monumental shift in how people live and work, scientists expect the Earth to already be experiencing dire effects by 2040: Sea-level rise, more ferocious wildfires, as well as the die-off of coral reefs around the world.

Hurricane Michael made landfall on Florida’s panhandle just shy of being a Category 5 storm. As it moves towards the Carolinas now as a tropical storm, it will be remembered as one of the most powerful hurricanes to ever hit the US mainland. Getting relief to affected areas will be a challenge.

Hurricane Michael made landfall on the Florida Panhandle earlier today (Oct. 10). It arrived as a Category 4 storm, a stunning development given that it was upgraded to a Category 2 only yesterday. With winds reaching around 150 mph (240 km per hour), the hurricane generated weather dangerous enough to force the closure of 18 Waffle Houses, the ubiquitous restaurant chain that’s often one of the few places to stay open during the worst weather scenarios. The National Weather Service described the storm as a “worst case scenario.”

Florida is bracing for Hurricane Michael, a recently upgraded Category 2 storm that is expected to make landfall across the state’s panhandle region, bringing with it a possible foot of rain and 100 mile-per-hour winds.

World Space Week celebrates human exploration in space, the science that makes it possible and the potential it holds for the betterment of humankind.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 probe, traveling through space alongside the Ryugu asteroid 174 million miles (280 million kilometers) from Earth, caught a glimpse of itself as it dropped its most recent payload, a German-French lander.

As rescue and recovery operations unfold on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island, where a massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami has killed at least 1,400 people and altered the landscape, a volcano is now erupting. Mount Soputan, on the northern end of the island, shot ash nearly four miles into the air early today (Oct. 3), NBC News reports.

International Day of Non-Violence is celebrated today (Oct. 2) on the birthday of Mahatma Ganhdi, the iconic proponent of civil disobedience in India.

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake on Friday (Sept. 28) on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi triggered a tsunami which as of today (Oct. 1) has killed more than 800 people and left a trail of destruction across the island.

US senator Jeff Flake began the day announcing his intention to vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee. He ended caught in between his Republican colleagues and their Democratic opponents.

Images of Christine Blasey Ford’s appearance before the Senate judiciary committee today (Sept. 27) are striking in how they illustrate the extraordinary nature of the proceedings called to air her sexual-assault accusation against Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

World Rivers Day, recognized on the fourth Saturday of every September (this year it falls on Sept. 29), is meant to remind us how waterways impact our lives, and, in the words of the organizers, “[encourage] the improved stewardship of all rivers around the world.”

Until now, dust storms have only been observed on two celestial bodies: Earth and Mars. But after looking at images produced using data from NASA’s Cassini space probe, which crashed into Saturn in 2017 after 13 years of service, astronomers believe they’ve seen evidence of dust storms on Titan, the largest of Saturn’s more than 60 moons.

New Zealand’s prime minister Jacinda Ardern, the world’s youngest female head of state, is now the first to bring her child to the UN General Assembly, as her 3-month-old daughter Neve Gayford attended the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit.

Today is National Public Lands Day, organized by the National Environmental Education Foundation and promoted by the US National Parks Service as well as conservancy organizations, is designed to inspire volunteer efforts across the country.

European Union leaders, exiting a negotiation summit in Salzburg, Austria with British prime minister Theresa May, sounded dour on her Brexit demands.

Ripping through the Philippines and Hong Kong with winds surpassing 100 miles per hour before making its way to mainland China, Super Typhoon Mangkhut left behind a chaotic mess of ripped-up buildings, mangled infrastructure and a massive landslide. The damage across the region could be seen today (Sept. 17) as photos show the aftermath. Rescue operations continue in the Philippines, where scores are believed to have died.

Its powerful winds subsided, the most dangerous aspect of Florence lingers: Floodwaters

Hurricane Florence, currently a Category 1 storm, officially made landfall along the North Carolina coast earlier this morning (Sept. 14). Moving slowly at around 6 miles per hour, while packing fierce winds of around 90 mph, it has already dropped more than a foot of rain in some areas, the AP reports. Two people were killed in North Carolina after a tree fell on their home in Wilmington.

Powerful imaging satellites and photos from the International Space Station can offer a wide look at the entire planet, but they can also zoom into details of the earth’s surface. Seen from the distance of space, the intricate formations of our planet’s sand dunes actually come into sharper focus.

Hoping to grow its footprint in world trade and polar research, China on Monday (Sept. 10) unveiled its first icebreaker ship built domestically. Arctic Today reports that the Xue Long 2 icebreaker joins a fleet that currently consists of one other ship, a former Soviet vessel built in Ukraine.