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The study of space weather has taken on an increased importance in recent decades, as the importance of the effects of the day-to-day conditions of our immediate solar system continue to be uncovered, with the effects here on Earth ranging from the awe-inspiring beauty of an aurora borealis display, to the potential nightmare a large-scale solar flare could unleash on our technology.

However, in much the same way that human-based activity has affected Earth-based weather through climate change, it turns out that we’ve also been affecting the nature of space weather in the immediate vicinity around our planet, in the form of a forcefield-like bubble that has been pushing away the natural radiation bands that circle Earth, high in the magnetosphere.
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Astronomers at Canada’s University of Calgary have revealed a previously-uncatalogued, purple-colored luminous phenomenon in the sky, found through observations made by citizen scientists, and confirmed by satellite data. The phenomenon consists of a lighted band or ribbon that stretches across the sky, and although it is not actually a new phenomenon, nobody had bothered paying attention to it before now.

And for lack of a better name, the researchers called it ‘Steve’.
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Despite being our closest neighbor in the heavens, the planet Venus still harbors a multitude of mysteries, due primarily to its thick cloud cover, obscuring the planet’s surface from study. Space probes sent to its surface are also only able to glean a scant amount of information: because of the intense heat and pressure at Venus’s surface, most probes fail after less then an hour. Adding to the mystique of the Morning Star is a newly-found wave propagating across the planet’s atmosphere, and the idea that Venus’s dark streaks may hold microbial life.
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In late October, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson announced that his company is backing the concept of a carbon tax, saying that climate change brings real risks, and serious action is required to mitigate them.

“We have long used a proxy cost of carbon… there’s a range depending on the country, depending on the tax that we think would be appropriate,” Tillerson explained at the Oil & Money conference in London. “We’re trying to influence and inform people and business on the choices they make.”
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