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Newly discovered asteroid makes one of the closest approaches of Earth | CNN

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A newly discovered asteroid the size of a box truck made one of the closest passes of our planet ever recorded.

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The rotation of Earth 's inner core may have paused and it could even go into reverse, new research suggests.

The Earth is formed of the crust, the mantle and the inner and outer cores. The solidinner core is situated about 3,200 miles below the Earth's crust and is separated from the semi-solid mantle by the liquid outer core, which allows the inner core to rotate at a different speed from the rotation of the Earth itself.

With a radius of almost 2,200 miles, Earth's core is about the size of Mars. It consists mostly of iron and nickel, and contains about about one-third of Earth's mass.

In research published in the journal Nature Geoscience on Monday, Yi Yang, associate research scientist at Peking University, and Xiaodong Song, Peking University chair professor, studied seismic waves from earthquakes that have passed through the Earth's inner core along similar paths since the 1960s to infer how fast the inner core is spinning.

What they found was unexpected, they said. Since 2009, seismic records, which previouslychanged over time,showed little difference. This, they said, suggested that the inner core rotation had paused.

"We show surprising observations that indicate the inner core has nearly ceased its rotation in the recent decade and may be experiencing a turning-back," they wrote in the study.

"When you look at the decade between 1980 and 1990 you see clear change but when you see 2010 to 2020 you don't see much change," added Song.

The spin of the inner core is driven by the magnetic field generated in the outer core and balanced by the gravitational effects of the mantle. Knowing how the inner core rotates could shed light on how these layers interact and other processes deep in the Earth.

However, the speed of this rotation, and whether it varies, is debated, said Hrvoje Tkalcic, a geophysicist at the Australian National University, who was not involved in the study,

"The inner core doesn't come to a full stop," he said. The study's finding, he said, "means that the inner core is now more in sync with the rest of the planet than a decade ago when it was spinning a bit faster."

"Nothing cataclysmic is happening," he added.

Song and Yang argue that, based on their calculations, a small imbalance in the electromagnetic and gravitational forces could slow and even reverse the inner core's rotation. They believe this is part of a seven-decade cycle, and that the turning point prior to the one they detected in their data around 2009/2010 occurred in the early 1970s.

Tkalcic, who is the author of "The Earth's Inner Core: Revealed by Observational Seismology," said the study's "data analysis is sound." However, the study's findings "should be taken cautiously" as "more data and innovative methods are needed to shed light on this interesting problem."

Song and Yang agreed that more research was needed.

Studying the Earth's core

Tkalcic, who dedicates an entire chapter of his book to the inner core rotation, suggested the inner core's cycle is every 20 to 30 years, rather than the 70 proposed in the latest study. He explained why such variations occur and why it was so difficult to understand what happens in the innermost reaches of the planet.

"The objects of our studies are buried thousands of kilometers beneath our feet," he said.

"We use geophysical inference methods to infer the Earth's internal properties, and caution must be exercised until multi-disciplinary findings confirm our hypotheses and conceptual frameworks," he explained

"You can think of seismologists like medical doctors who study the internal organs of patients' bodies using imperfect or limited equipment. So, despite progress, our image of the inner Earth is still blurry, and we are still in the discovery stage."

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Earth's inner core may have stopped turning and could go into reverse, study suggests | CNN

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Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more . The rotation of Earth 's inner core may have paused and it could even go into reverse, new research suggests. The Earth is formed of the crust, the mantle and the inner and outer cores.

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battery: A device that can convert chemical energy into electrical energy.

climate change: Long-term, significant change in the climate of Earth. It can happen naturally or in response to human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels and clearing of forests.

computer model: A program that runs on a computer that creates a model, or simulation, of a real-world feature, phenomenon or event.

consultant: Someone who performs work as an outside expert, usually for a company or industry. "Independent" consultants often work alone, as individuals who sign a contract to share their expert advice or analytical skills for a short time with a company or other organization.

ecologist: A scientist who works in a branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings.

economist: Someone who works in the field of economics: how a society's resources relate to the things it produces or achieves. Often this is measured in the goods people make, the money they earn or the costs they encounter (such as pollution or sickness). Economists might calculate this for something as small as a village or as large as a nation - even for workers living across the globe.

factor: Something that plays a role in a particular condition or event; a contributor.

focus: (in behavior) To look or concentrate intently on some particular point or thing.

fossil fuel: Any fuel - such as coal, petroleum (crude oil) or natural gas - that has developed within the Earth over millions of years from the decayed remains of bacteria, plants or animals.

greenhouse gas: A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing heat. Carbon dioxide is one example of a greenhouse gas.

grid: (in electricity) The interconnected system of electricity lines that transport electrical power over long distances. In North America, this grid connects electrical generating stations and local communities throughout most of the continent.

inflation: The process of expanding something (such as a balloon or tire) by filling it with a fluid or gas. (in economics) A rise in the price of goods and services at the same time that there is a drop in what can be purchased with a given amount of money. This can also be viewed as a drop in the buying power of money over time (such that a loaf of bread that once cost 20 cents, for instance, may now cost 12 times that much).

journal: (in science) A publication in which scientists share their research findings with experts (and sometimes even the public). Some journals publish papers from all fields of science, technology, engineering and math, while others are specific to a single subject.

natural gas: A mix of gases that developed underground over millions of years (often in association with crude oil). Most natural gas starts out as 50 to 90 percent methane, along with small amounts of heavier hydrocarbons, such as propane and butane.

power plant: An industrial facility for generating electricity.

probability: A mathematical calculation or assessment (essentially the chance) of how likely something is to occur.

recall: To remember.

renewable: An adjective for resources that can be endlessly replaced (such as water, green plants, sunlight and wind). This is in contrast to non-renewable resources, for which there is a finite supply -- one that can essentially be used up. These include petroleum (and other fossil fuels) or relatively rare elements and minerals.

simulation: (v. simulate) An analysis, often made using a computer, of some conditions, functions or appearance of a physical system. A computer program would do this by using mathematical operations that can describe the system and how it might change over time or in response to different anticipated situations.

solar energy: The energy in sunlight that can be captured as heat or converted into heat or electrical energy. Some people refer to wind power as a form of solar energy. The reason: Winds are driven by the variations in temperatures and the density of the air, both of which are affected by the solar heating of the air, ground and surface waters.

system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body's circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation's railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.

technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry - or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.

transition: The boundary where one thing (paragraphs, ecosystems, life stage, state of matter) changes or converts into another. Some transitions are sharp or abrupt. Others slowly or gradually morph from one condition or environment to another. (in gender studies) A term used to describe the process of permanently changing one's outward gender in terms of name, behavior and expression to match one's inner sense of his or her gender.

trillion: A number representing a million million - or 1,000,000,000,000 - of something.

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Green energy is cheaper than fossil fuels, a new study finds

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Switching over to clean, renewable power - and away from fossil fuels - could save trillions of dollars by 2050, a new study finds.

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The world's longest flight spent more than two months in the air | CNN

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This is one aviation record that will likely never be broken. In the late 1950s, two men flew in a little four-seater plane for 64 days, 22 hours and 19 minutes, clocking up 150,000 miles over the Las Vegas desert.

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Artificial intelligence (noun, "Art-uh-FISH-uhl In-TELL-uh-jents")

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that can do complex tasks that used to require human smarts. It is also the field of science focused on building that technology.

Examples of AI are all around us. AI technologies power smart assistants such as Siri and search engines like Google. They recommend movies and music on streaming services. They can transcribe speech or translate text.

Much of today's AI is based on machine learning. This is a type of computing where an algorithm teaches itself to do something based on examples or experience. Machine learning has allowed computers to get better at some tasks than people. For instance, computers can beat the world's best human players at complex strategy games such as Go.

But all of today's AI is artificial "narrow" intelligence. That is, it can do only a narrow set of tasks based on its programming or training. A chess-playing AI can't drive a car. And the computer vision systems that help a self-driving car get around can't play chess. Artificial "general" intelligence would be a machine that could learn, reason and act just like a human. But that tech does not yet exist.

In a sentence

Determining whether artificial intelligence has truly reached human-level intelligence is really difficult.

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More About Power Words

algorithm: A group of rules or procedures for solving a problem in a series of steps. Algorithms are used in mathematics and in computer programs for figuring out solutions.

artificial intelligence: A type of knowledge-based decision-making exhibited by machines or computers. The term also refers to the field of study in which scientists try to create machines or computer software capable of intelligent behavior.

field: An area of study, as in: Her field of research is biology. Also a term to describe a real-world environment in which some research is conducted, such as at sea, in a forest, on a mountaintop or on a city street. It is the opposite of an artificial setting, such as a research laboratory.

intelligence: The ability to collect and apply knowledge and skills.

machine learning: A technique in computer science that allows computers to learn from examples or experience. Machine learning is the basis of some forms of artificial intelligence (AI). For instance, a machine-learning system might compare X-rays of lung tissue in people with cancer and then compare these to whether and how long a patient survived after being given a particular treatment. In the future, that AI system might be able to look at a new patient's lung scans and predict how well they will respond to a treatment.

programming: (in computing) To use a computer language to write or revise a set of instructions that makes a computer do something. The set of instructions that does this is known as a computer program. The term is also used, in an analogy to computer programming, to describe the way something - such as cells - have been designed to function. A person who writes or revises software is a known as a programmer.

search engine: (in computing) A computer program that allows a computer to search for information on the Internet. Common examples include Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo.

self-driving car: Also known as a driverless car or autonomous vehicle. These cars pilot themselves based on instructions that have been programmed into their computer guidance system.

system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body's circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation's railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.

technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry - or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.

Maria Temming is the assistant editor at Science News Explores. She has bachelor's degrees in physics and English, and a master's in science writing.

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Artificial intelligence (noun, "Art-uh-FISH-uhl In-TELL-uh-jents") Artificial intelligence, or AI, is technology that can do complex tasks that used to require human smarts. It is also the field of science focused on building that technology. Examples of AI are all around us. AI technologies power smart assistants such as Siri and search engines like Google.

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alpha particle: A type of ionizing radiation, physically equivalent to the nucleus of a helium atom (because it consists of two protons and two neutrons). Alpha particles carry away some of the energy that had been in the nucleus from which it had been emitted. That energy will be deposited into any material with which it collides. If alpha particles collide with living tissue, they can be very biologically damaging. Alpha particles are released by some radioactive atoms, including plutonium, polonium, radium and uranium.

atom: (adj. atomic) The basic unit of a chemical element. Atoms are made up of a dense nucleus that contains positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons. The nucleus is orbited by a cloud of negatively charged electrons.

atomic number: The number of protons in an atomic nucleus, which determines the type of atom and how it behaves.

decay: (for radioactive materials) The process whereby a radioactive isotope - which means a physically unstable form of some element - sheds energy and subatomic particles. In time, this shedding will transform the unstable element into a slightly different but stable element. For instance, uranium-238 (which is a radioactive, or unstable, isotope) decays to radium-222 (also a radioactive isotope), which decays to radon-222 (also radioactive), which decays to polonium-210 (also radioactive), which decays to lead-206 - which is stable. No further decay occurs. The rates of decay from one isotope to another can range from timeframes of less than a second to billions of years.

eject: To suddenly or forcefully push or jettison something from its position, container or housing.

equilibrium: A condition where things are in balance. It's due to opposing forces equaling (or cancelling) each other out.

force: Some outside influence that can change the motion of a body, hold bodies close to one another, or produce motion or stress in a stationary body.

half-life: The time it takes for half of some quantity of a radioactive isotope to decay (transform) into a new isotope.

interim: An adjective describing some intermediate point in time or place.

isotopes: Different forms of an element that vary somewhat in mass (and potentially in lifetime). All have the same number of protons in their nucleus, but different numbers of neutrons.

lead: A toxic heavy metal (abbreviated as Pb) that in the body moves to where calcium wants to go (such as bones and teeth). The metal is particularly toxic to the brain. In a child's developing brain, it can permanently impair IQ, even at relatively low levels.

morph: Short for metamorphose, it means to change or transform from one form to another (such as from a caterpillar to a butterfly) or from one shape to another. (in non-living systems) It refers to some thing, policy or activity that has undergone change, becoming something that looks or seems new and different.

neutrino: A subatomic particle with a mass close to zero. Neutrinos rarely react with normal matter. Three kinds of neutrinos are known.

neutron: A subatomic particle carrying no electric charge that is one of the basic pieces of matter. Neutrons belong to the family of particles known as hadrons.

nucleus: Plural is nuclei. (in biology) A dense structure present in many cells. Typically a single rounded structure encased within a membrane, the nucleus contains the genetic information. (in astronomy) The rocky body of a comet, sometimes carrying a jacket of ice or frozen gases. (in physics) The central core of an atom, containing most of its mass.

positron: A subatomic particle with the mass of an electron, but a positive electrical charge. It is the antimatter counterpart to the electron. So when electrons and positrons collide, they annihilate each other, releasing energy.

proton: A subatomic particle that is one of the basic building blocks of the atoms that make up matter. Protons belong to the family of particles known as hadrons.

radiation: (in physics) One of the three major ways that energy is transferred. (The other two are conduction and convection.) In radiation, electromagnetic waves carry energy from one place to another. Unlike conduction and convection, which need material to help transfer the energy, radiation can transfer energy across empty space.

radioactive: An adjective that describes unstable elements, such as certain forms (isotopes) of uranium and plutonium. Such elements are said to be unstable because their nucleus sheds energy that is carried away by photons and/or and often one or more subatomic particles. This emission of energy is by a process known as radioactive decay.

radioactive decay: A process by which an element is converted into a lighter element through the shedding of subatomic particles (and energy).

radon: A radioactive member of the noble gas family. It is naturally given off by some rocks in the soil. When it accumulates in homes or water supplies, it can pose a health hazard.

shell: (in physics) The orbital paths that electrons take around the nucleus of an atom.

subatomic: Anything smaller than an atom, which is the smallest bit of matter that has all the properties of whatever chemical element it is (like hydrogen, iron or calcium).

thorium: A naturally radioactive element which appears as a silvery metal when it is pure. It reacts chemically with air, turning black on its surface. It is found in some minerals, and can be used to trace the source of some mineral grains that are carried long distances by water or wind. Its scientific symbol is Th.

trillion: A number representing a million million - or 1,000,000,000,000 - of something.

universe: The entire cosmos: All things that exist throughout space and time. It has been expanding since its formation during an event known as the Big Bang, some 13.8 billion years ago (give or take a few hundred million years).

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Explainer: Radiation and radioactive decay

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Like clockwork, radioactive forms of some elements shed parts of themselves as they attempt to become nonradioactive.

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Welcome to Ivujivik (Ih-VOO-yih-vik). No roads lead here. The only way in or out is via an airplane or boat. Thomassie Mangiok calls this northernmost town in Quebec, Canada, home. It's also where he runs a company. His Pirnoma Technologies Inc. builds apps. It also provides graphic design and IT support. Oh, and Mangiok is a director at Nuvviti (Noo-FIH-tee), the local school, too.

He regularly educates others about technology. "I depend on the internet," says Mangiok. Unfortunately, internet access in northern Canada's remote towns often is slow, unreliable and expensive. "It's hard for us to get what we need up here and to give what we have," says Mangiok.

He isn't alone. All around the world - especially in rural areas - people have trouble going online. For some, high-speed internet simply isn't available where they live. Other people lack devices, training or electricity.

Jane Munga grew up in Nyeri, a rural town in Kenya. She notes that internet service providers cover most parts of Africa. Yet two-thirds of Africans still can't or don't use the internet, she says. Around the globe, some 2.9 billion people - or not quite four in every 10 - are not connected. It sets up a so-called digital divide, where some people are connected and others aren't.

And this is a big problem.

In very remote places like Ivujivik, there may be no local health specialists, banks or sources of world news. High-speed internet is the best way to share these essential services. Other people may need high-speed internet to run a business or get an education.

Back in 2016, the United Nations declared internet access to be a basic human right. "The internet is an equalizer," says Munga. She now works on technology policy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C.

More and more modern technologies and internet services, such as Zoom, only work well with high-speed internet. Although cellular signals can provide such access, they aren't as reliable as the fiber-optic cables that bring high speeds to much of the world. And those cables still do not reach many rural areas.

But several new technologies are helping to finally connect these places. Lines of low-flying satellites can bounce internet signals between Earth and space to link up remote sites. Unused TV channels can carry internet instead of shows. Lasers can even zap internet through the air.

New tech is crucial to bringing good internet access to those who don't yet have it. But technology alone won't fix the digital divide. Education, funding from governments or non-profit groups, and community-led efforts at the local level can help bring the internet to people who lack it. To get everyone online, tech companies and these other groups must all work together.

Cables under ice

Everything on the internet - a text to your friend, a TikTok video, this Science News Explores article - travels from device to device in chunks of data. Those chunks are called packets. And packets need a way to get from here to there. "Think of the internet as kind of like roads or highways," says Stephen Hampton. He works in Canada at Telesat, a satellite internet company in Ottawa, Ontario.

Someone can travel faster and more smoothly on a highway than on a dirt road. Similarly, packets travel better in some ways than others. Way back when the internet was new, most people connected via landline telephone wires. Think of this as the dirt road of the internet world. Packets travel slowly as electrical signals along these wires. Fiber-optic cables are the internet's highways. Laid underground or hung from telephone poles, these cables carry packets extremely quickly, as bursts of light.

Of course, highways don't reach every corner of the globe. Neither do fiber-optic cables. To build a fiber-optic connection to a remote town, workers must dig into the ground or erect poles. Then they lay new cables along the entire distance from a nearby town or city that already has high-speed internet. That can get incredibly costly, especially over very long distances. It's also tricky when obstacles get in the way - such as mountains, rivers or ice.

Yet high-speed internet is so important that cables are finally reaching out to some remote areas. In 2021, a project began to bring fiber optics to Ivujivik and many other towns in the area. "Boats are going along the coast, laying long lines of cable [underwater]," says Rob McMahon. He studies digital media and technology in Canada at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

This brand-new, high-speed internet reached Mangiok's town during the summer of 2022. His kids can now watch Netflix, YouTube and Disney+. These streaming platforms hadn't worked before. Munga's hometown of Nyeri, Kenya, got a brand-new fiber-optic connection at around the same time. "I saw them putting up telephone poles," says Munga. When she worked in Nyeri, she used to use her phone as a hot spot. Now, she can tap into the town's high-speed internet.

Towers and TV channels

In places that lack a fiber-optic link, people may access the internet only through cellular phone signals. These signals bounce packets to and from cell towers. It's how cell phones connect to the internet even when there's no Wi-Fi available. When a cell tower provides the main internet connection for an area, it's called fixed wireless.

As of 2021, 88 percent of the world's population lived where 4G or 5G cell coverage was available. These technologies can supply internet speeds comparable to fiber-optic cables. However, the technologies that provide the fastest speeds also span far shorter distances. To carry more data, 4G and 5G use high-energy radio frequencies. Trees, mountains, rain or snow can block these signals and cause delays. So you need to be fairly close to a tower for these connections to work well. In a flat area, signals from a 4G tower can reach around 16 kilometers (10 miles). 5G reaches only about 300 meters (1,000 feet). Fixed wireless is not the ideal solution where people live far apart or in rugged terrain. Since it costs less than fiber-optic cables, though, many places choose fixed wireless anyway.

Another old-school technology might be a better fit for rural areas: television.

TV signals have wide, low- frequency waves. That gives them the advantage of being able to travel farther and through more obstacles than a 4G or 5G cellular signal. The problem with television is that most of its frequencies now carry television shows. Sending internet packets at the same frequency as a TV broadcast would interrupt the show. The key is to find TV channels no one is using. The good news: In rural areas, many TV channels remain unused. These are known as TV white spaces, or TVWS. They fall within the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

One empty channel, however, isn't enough. Internet providers must find several unused frequencies. Then, they can group them to provide high-speed internet within the TV band of the radio spectrum. Homes or communities need a special receiver to convert a TVWS signal into Wi-Fi or some other form of internet service.

Could there be even better ways to expand access to the internet? Engineers are working on some futuristic approaches. Bring on the satellites and lasers!

Satellites on parade

Before new high-speed cables came to town, Ivujivik's only connection to the internet was via a geostationary satellite. This type orbits about 36,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) above Earth. At this height, it stays in sync with Earth's orbit. That means it always remains directly over a single spot on the planet's surface. It sends packets back and forth as radio signals to satellite dishes on the ground.

But sending packets tens of thousands of kilometers out into space and back takes time - typically around 600 to 800 milliseconds, or around two-thirds of a second. That's more than 10 times slower than a fiber-optic cable link. The only way to speed up the link, says Hampton, is to "bring satellites closer to Earth." Satellites in low Earth orbit - or LEO - zip around the planet at heights of 160 to 2,000 kilometers (100 to 1,200 miles). They can now match the connection speed of fiber-optic cables.

These LEO satellites don't stay put over the same spot on Earth, however. So it takes a parade of them to provide a steady internet connection. The dish or antennas on the ground must follow one satellite until it begins to move out of view. Then the dish must jump to the next satellite without disrupting the link. A satellite dish would have to swivel around to accomplish this jump. Newer, flat antennae are simpler. They can capture signals from any direction without having to physically move, Hampton explains.

LEO satellites have an advantage over geostationary ones. A bad storm may block the signals as it passes between a satellite and its dish. But LEO satellites move relative to the Earth. When multiple satellites are moving overhead, there's a good chance a storm won't block them all.

Telesat plans to launch 200 LEO satellites to create a planet-wide network it's calling Telesat Lightspeed. Other companies, including SpaceX and Amazon, are launching their own LEO networks. Some have already sent thousands of satellites into orbit. (The number needed to cover the whole Earth depends on their distance from the planet.)

How will people access the internet via LEO satellites? In some places, people will have to pay to install a dish or antenna on their home or business. That can be quite costly. Telesat has a different approach. "We're doing community connectivity," says Hampton. This works especially well in remote areas.

For this approach, one antenna in a central area talks to the satellite parade. From there, the internet spreads out to the rest of town via cables or a wireless signal. Many remote towns already have some sort of existing network in place. Feeding a new, high-speed connection into such an existing network makes the upgrade cheaper.

From balloons to lasers

If lower orbit helps satellites achieve higher speeds, why not get still closer to Earth? One group tried to provide internet to remote areas with high-flying balloons. They called it Project Loon. Balloon internet proved to be too difficult to make reliable. But the attempt wasn't all in vain. Along the way, "the team had to figure out how to send data reliably between balloons," says Mahesh Krishnaswamy. Its solution: a new technology now called wireless optical communications, or WOC.

Krishnaswamy works at a Mountain View, Calif. company owned by Google. It's known as X, the moonshot factory. He founded and now leads its Project Taara, which is using WOC closer to the ground. This wireless technology zaps packets in beams of laser light. The beams travel between small terminals mounted on a series of poles. Those poles can be up to 20 kilometers (12 miles) apart.

As in fiber optics, beams of light travel extremely quickly through the air. The tricky part is that just about anything can block these signals. Krishnaswamy points to fog, heavy rain, birds - even "a curious monkey" during one test in India. So foggy sites aren't the best for this tech. But his team has found creative ways to adapt to changes in the environment in real time. In most cases, two terminals can automatically find each other again if they lose their connection.

In 2021, Project Taara used WOC in Africa to beam internet across the Congo River between Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It's the deepest river in the world, says Krishnaswamy. It would be too hard and costly to span a fiber-optic cable connection across it. But the distance isn't that far. Here, WOC is a great solution that can be set up quickly.

"Internet by the people, for the people"

New technologies are exciting, says Munga. "But I have mixed feelings about them." A new group of satellites or cell tower isn't a magic solution, she says.

Vickie Robinson in Washington, D.C., agrees. "Just because you build it doesn't mean they're going to come," says this leader of the global Airband Initiative at Microsoft. Airband's goal is to connect as many people as possible to technology.

It isn't enough to just make sure internet is available to an area. People have to be able to afford it. Plus, people need the right skills, Wi-Fi routers and devices to get connected. They also need electricity. In many rural parts of Kenya, Munga points out, people lack electricity at home. So when their phone batteries run down, they leave them at a local shopping center to charge all day. ("There's a small fee for that," she notes.)

For more than 20 years, Robinson has been working on bridging the digital divide. "It's my life's work," she says. In her current role with Airband, she partners with local companies, governments and community groups around the world. Together, they set up new or improved internet links.

At its heart, the digital divide separates the world unfairly and unevenly. It can limit education. Certain communities are also more likely than others to lack reliable, high-speed internet, says Robinson. Among these are the elderly, people of color, women, girls, people who are part of the disability community and people who lack a secure income. Many projects support these different groups and their efforts to get online.

In one project, Airband is working in Africa with the government of Ghana and an internet provider named Bluetown. They aim to connect 1,000 schools to high-speed internet. The same project is also helping to connect women who run businesses. By selling online, these women can support themselves and their families and also bring more wealth to their communities.

Munga notes that several groups in Kenya are forming community networks for internet access. It is "internet by the people, for the people," she says. One group called Tunapanda (a Swahili word that means "we are growing") provides education and training as well as connectivity.

New tech can definitely help expand access. But often the best solutions to connecting some remote area develop when the people in a community lead the way. Mangiok is doing this in Ivujivik. Whenever he shows kids and students his apps, he's hoping they'll go out and build their own tech. "I made this, and you can make your own thing," he tells them.

Creative solutions of all kinds and in all places - from Ivujivik to Nyeri and beyond -are crucial to making sure everyone can access the internet.

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More About Power Words

5G: The 5 gigahertz frequency band used to transmit a newer generation of cellular-network signals.

antenna: (plural: antennae or antennas) (in physics) Devices for picking up (receiving) electromagnetic energy.

app: Short for application, or a computer program designed for a specific task.

broadcast: To cast - or send out - something over a relatively large distance. A farmer may broadcast seeds by flinging them by hand over a large area. A loudspeaker may send sounds out over a great distance. An electronic transmitter may emit electromagnetic signals over the air to a distant radio, television or other receiving device. And a newscaster can broadcast details of events to listeners across a large area, even the world.

cell: (in telecommunications) A technology that relies on a large number of base stations to relay signals. Each base station covers only a small area, which is known as a cell. Phones that rely on this system are typically referred to as cell phones.

digital: (in computer science and engineering) An adjective indicating that something has been developed numerically on a computer or on some other electronic device, based on a binary system (where all numbers are displayed using a series of only zeros and ones).

engineer: A person who uses science to solve problems. As a verb, to engineer means to design a device, material or process that will solve some problem or unmet need. (v.) To perform these tasks, or the name for a person who performs such tasks.

environment: The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature and humidity (or even the placement of things in the vicinity of an item of interest).

fiber optics: The use of thin, flexible fibers of glass (known as optical fibers) or other transparent solids to transmit light signals, chiefly for telecommunications.

frequency: The number of times some periodic phenomenon occurs within a specified time interval. (In physics) The number of wavelengths that occurs over a particular interval of time.

internet: An electronic communications network. It allows computers anywhere in the world to link into other networks to find information, download files and share data (including pictures).

IT: Short for information technology. It often refers to the department within an organization charged with keeping computers and software working and up-to-date.

laser: A device that generates an intense beam of coherent light of a single color. Lasers are used in drilling and cutting, alignment and guidance, in data storage and in surgery.

media: A term for the ways information is delivered and shared within a society. It encompasses not only the traditional media - newspapers, magazines, radio and television - but also digital outlets, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and WhatsApp. The newer, digital media are sometimes referred to as social media. The singular form of this term is medium.

millisecond: A thousandth of a second.

network: A group of interconnected people or things. (v.) The act of connecting with other people who work in a given area or do similar thing (such as artists, business leaders or medical-support groups), often by going to gatherings where such people would be expected, and then chatting them up. (n. networking)

online: (n.) On the internet. (adj.) A term for what can be found or accessed on the internet.

optics: Having to do with vision or what can be seen.

orbit: The curved path of a celestial object or spacecraft around a galaxy, star, planet or moon. One complete circuit around a celestial body.

policy: A plan, stated guidelines or agreed-upon rules of action to apply in certain specific circumstances. For instance, a school could have a policy on when to permit snow days or how many excused absences it would allow a student in a given year.

population: (in biology) A group of individuals (belonging to the same species) that lives in a given area.

radio: Referring to radio waves, or the device that receives these transmissions. Radio waves are a part of the electromagnetic spectrum that people often use for long-distance communication. Longer than the waves of visible light, radio waves are used to transmit radio and television signals. They also are used in radar. Many astronomical objects also radiate some of their energy as radio waves.

real time: A term that connotes immediacy; something is being studied, recorded and/or reported at the very time it is happening.

router: In computer science, a device that handles the exchange of digital information between different points in a network.

satellite: A moon orbiting a planet or a vehicle or other manufactured object that orbits some celestial body in space.

social: (adj.) Relating to gatherings of people; a term for animals (or people) that prefer to exist in groups. (noun) A gathering of people, for instance those who belong to a club or other organization, for the purpose of enjoying each other's company.

spectrum: (plural: spectra) A range of related things that appear in some order. (in light and energy) The range of electromagnetic radiation types; they span from gamma rays to X rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared energy, microwaves and radio waves.

technology or tech: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry - or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.

terminal: The end point or last station in some system, network or process. The end of the line.

terrain: The land in a particular area and whatever covers it. The term might refer to anything from a smooth, flat and dry landscape to a mountainous region covered with boulders, bogs and forest cover.

wave: A disturbance or variation that travels through space and matter in a regular, oscillating fashion.

Wi-Fi: A wireless technology that networks various electronic devices (such as cell phones and laptop computers); it allows them to share the same modem for Internet connections by using radio waves.

wireless: (in telecommunications) An adjective that describes the ability of certain devices to send and receive radio signals over the air. It often refers to Wi-Fi networks and the networks operated by cell-phone companies to transmit data called up by phone users.

Kathryn Hulick is a freelance science writer and the author of Strange But True: 10 of the World's Greatest Mysteries Explained, a book about the science of ghosts, aliens and more. She loves hiking, gardening and robots.

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Will the internet soon reach the one-third of people without it?

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Welcome to Ivujivik (Ih-VOO-yih-vik). No roads lead here. The only way in or out is via an airplane or boat. Thomassie Mangiok calls this northernmost town in Quebec, Canada, home. It's also where he runs a company. His Pirnoma Technologies Inc. builds apps. It also provides graphic design and IT support.

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The science of sticking to your New Year's Resolutions

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The science of sticking to your New Year's Resolutions

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The Science of Sticking to your New Year's Resolutions

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/ CBS News

"Sunday Morning" host Jane Pauley looks back on key events of a dramatic year.
January

The James Webb Space Telescope entered orbit. The telescope has since yielded a series of stunning images of deep space.

February

March

April

May

A gunman in Uvalde, Texas killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School. It was the third-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history.

June

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, effectively criminalizing abortion in much of the nation.

July

August

September

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II died in Scotland, at the age of 96. Her son Charles succeeded her as king.

October

November

A projected "red wave" fizzled, as Republicans won a slim majority in the House, and Democrats held control of the United States Senate.

December

A suspect was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of four University of Idaho students; and WNBA star Brittney Griner returned home after a prisoner swap with Russia. She said she'll return to the court this season.

Story produced by Robert Marston. Editor: Chad Cardin.
Trending News

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The year in review: Top news stories of 2022 month-by-month

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"Sunday Morning" host Jane Pauley looks back on key events of a dramatic year.

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Erin Wayman is the managing editor for print and longform content at Science News. She has a master's degree in biological anthropology from the University of California, Davis and a master's degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins University.

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Here are 5 record-breaking science discoveries from 2022

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Erin Wayman is the managing editor for print and longform content at Science News. She has a master's degree in biological anthropology from the University of California, Davis and a master's degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins University.

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Extreme weather in 2022 showed the global impact of climate change

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Heat waves, floods, wildfires and drought around the world were exacerbated by Earth’s changing climate.

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catalyst: (v. catalyze) A substance that helps a chemical reaction to proceed faster. Examples include enzymes and elements such as platinum and iridium.

cell: (in biology) The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the unaided eye, it consists of a watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. Depending on their size, animals are made of anywhere from thousands to trillions of cells.

chemical: A substance formed from two or more atoms that unite (bond) in a fixed proportion and structure. For example, water is a chemical made when two hydrogen atoms bond to one oxygen atom. Its chemical formula is H ₂ O. Chemical also can be an adjective to describe properties of materials that are the result of various reactions between different compounds.

chemical reaction: A process that involves the rearrangement of the molecules or structure of a substance, as opposed to a change in physical form (as from a solid to a gas).

chemistry: The field of science that deals with the composition, structure and properties of substances and how they interact. Scientists use this knowledge to study unfamiliar substances, to reproduce large quantities of useful substances or to design and create new and useful substances.

colleague: Someone who works with another; a co-worker or team member.

compound: (often used as a synonym for chemical) A compound is a substance formed when two or more chemical elements unite (bond) in fixed proportions. For example, water is a compound made of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom. Its chemical symbol is H ₂ O.

copper: A metallic chemical element in the same family as silver and gold. Because it is a good conductor of electricity, it is widely used in electronic devices.

dark matter: Physical objects or particles that emit no detectable radiation of their own. They are believed to exist because of unexplained gravitational forces that they appear to exert on other, visible astronomical objects.

develop: To emerge or to make come into being, either naturally or through human intervention, such as by manufacturing.

DNA: (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) A long, double-stranded and spiral-shaped molecule inside most living cells that carries genetic instructions. It is built on a backbone of phosphorus, oxygen, and carbon atoms. In all living things, from plants and animals to microbes, these instructions tell cells which molecules to make.

field: An area of study, as in: Her field of research is biology. Also a term to describe a real-world environment in which some research is conducted, such as at sea, in a forest, on a mountaintop or on a city street. It is the opposite of an artificial setting, such as a research laboratory.

immune system: The collection of cells and their responses that help the body fight off infections and deal with foreign substances that may provoke allergies.

innovation: (v. to innovate; adj. innovative) An adaptation or improvement to an existing idea, process or product that is new, clever, more effective or more practical.

metal: Something that conducts electricity well, tends to be shiny (reflective) and is malleable (meaning it can be reshaped with heat and not too much force or pressure).

microscope: An instrument used to view objects, like bacteria, or the single cells of plants or animals, that are too small to be visible to the unaided eye.

molecule: An electrically neutral group of atoms that represents the smallest possible amount of a chemical compound. Molecules can be made of single types of atoms or of different types. For example, the oxygen in the air is made of two oxygen atoms (O ₂), but water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H ₂ O).

neuroscientist: Someone who studies the structure or function of the brain and other parts of the nervous system.

Nobel prize: A prestigious award named after Alfred Nobel. Best known as the inventor of dynamite, Nobel was a wealthy man when he died on December 10, 1896. In his will, Nobel left much of his fortune to create prizes to those who have done their best for humanity in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace. Winners receive a medal and large cash award.

organism: Any living thing, from elephants and plants to bacteria and other types of single-celled life.

polymer: A substance made from long chains of repeating groups of atoms. Manufactured polymers include nylon, polyvinyl chloride (better known as PVC) and many types of plastics. Natural polymers include rubber, silk and cellulose (found in plants and used to make paper, for example).

protein: A compound made from one or more long chains of amino acids. Proteins are an essential part of all living organisms. They form the basis of living cells, muscle and tissues; they also do the work inside of cells. Among the better-known, stand-alone proteins are the hemoglobin (in blood) and the antibodies (also in blood) that attempt to fight infections. Medicines frequently work by latching onto proteins.

recall: To remember.

RNA: A molecule that helps "read" the genetic information contained in DNA. A cell's molecular machinery reads DNA to create RNA, and then reads RNA to create proteins.

T cells: A family of white blood cells, also known as lymphocytes, that are primary actors in the immune system. They fight disease and can help the body deal with harmful substances.

tumor: A mass of cells characterized by atypical and often uncontrolled growth. Benign tumors will not spread; they just grow and cause problems if they press against or tighten around healthy tissue. Malignant tumors will ultimately shed cells that can seed the body with new tumors. Malignant tumors are also known as cancers.

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Lego-like way to snap molecules together wins 2022 chemistry Nobel

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This so-called 'click chemistry' allows scientists to build complex molecules in the lab and in living cells.

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3-D: Short for three-dimensional. This term is an adjective for something that has features that can be described in three dimensions - height, width and length.

behavior: The way something, often a person or other organism, acts towards others, or conducts itself.

cancer: Any of more than 100 different diseases, each characterized by the rapid, uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells. The development and growth of cancers, also known as malignancies, can lead to tumors, pain and death.

conduction: (adj. conductive) One of three major ways that energy is transferred. (The other two are convection and radiation.) In conduction, energy is transferred when atoms and molecules bump into each other, with slower, colder particles gaining energy from the warmer, faster ones that slam into them.

current: (in electricity) The flow of electricity or the amount of charge moving through some material over a particular period of time.

electrical conductivity: The ability of some substance (such as water or metals) to transport an electrical charge or current.

element: A building block of some larger structure. (in chemistry) Each of more than one hundred substances for which the smallest unit of each is a single atom. Examples include hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, lithium and uranium.

fabric: Any flexible material that is woven, knitted or can be fused into a sheet by heat.

hologram: An image made of light and projected onto a surface, depicting the contents of a space.

laser: A device that generates an intense beam of coherent light of a single color. Lasers are used in drilling and cutting, alignment and guidance, in data storage and in surgery.

metal: Something that conducts electricity well, tends to be shiny (reflective) and is malleable (meaning it can be reshaped with heat and not too much force or pressure).

meteorite: A lump of rock or metal from space that passes through Earth's atmosphere and collides with the ground.

nuclear power: Energy derived from processes that produce heat by splitting apart the nuclei of atoms (fission) or forcing atomic nuclei to merge (fusion). A nuclear power plant uses that heat to drive turbines that create electricity.

platinum: A naturally occurring silver-white metallic element that remains stable (does not corrode) in air. It is used in jewelry, electronics, chemical processing and some dental crowns.

radioactive: An adjective that describes unstable elements, such as certain forms (isotopes) of uranium and plutonium. Such elements are said to be unstable because their nucleus sheds energy that is carried away by photons and/or and often one or more subatomic particles. This emission of energy is by a process known as radioactive decay.

skyscraper: A very tall building.

society: An integrated group of people or animals that generally cooperate and support one another for the greater good of them all.

system: A network of parts that together work to achieve some function. For instance, the blood, vessels and heart are primary components of the human body's circulatory system. Similarly, trains, platforms, tracks, roadway signals and overpasses are among the potential components of a nation's railway system. System can even be applied to the processes or ideas that are part of some method or ordered set of procedures for getting a task done.

technology: The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry - or the devices, processes and systems that result from those efforts.

universe: The entire cosmos: All things that exist throughout space and time. It has been expanding since its formation during an event known as the Big Bang, some 13.8 billion years ago (give or take a few hundred million years).

uranium: The heaviest naturally occurring element known. It's called element 92, which refers to the number of protons in its nucleus. Uranium atoms are radioactive, which means they decay into different atomic nuclei.

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The 'perfect' metal may belong to the fictitious Marvel world of Wakanda, but scientists hope to one day mimic some of its key traits.

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Only use this article if you DID NOT use it last time

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acidic: An adjective for materials that contain acid. Acidic materials often are capable of dissolving away some minerals, such as carbonate, or preventing their formation in the first place.

algae: Single-celled organisms, once considered plants (they aren't). As aquatic organisms, they grow in water. Like green plants, they depend on sunlight to make their food.

anode: The negative terminal of a battery, and the positively charged electrode in an electrolytic cell. It attracts negatively charged particles. The anode is the source of electrons for use outside the battery when it discharges.

aquatic: An adjective that refers to water.

Atlantic: One of the world's five oceans, it is second in size only to the Pacific. It separates Europe and Africa to the east from North and South America to the west.

atmosphere: The envelope of gases surrounding Earth, another planet or a moon.

atom: The basic unit of a chemical element. Atoms are made up of a dense nucleus that contains positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons. The nucleus is orbited by a cloud of negatively charged electrons.

bacteria: (singular: bacterium) Single-celled organisms. These dwell nearly everywhere on Earth, from the bottom of the sea to inside other living organisms (such as plants and animals). Bacteria are one of the three domains of life on Earth.

biogeochemist: Someone who studies processes that cycle (or eventually deposit) pure elements or chemical compounds (including minerals) between living species and nonliving aspects (such as rock or soil or water) of an ecosystem. This field of study is known as biogeochemistry.

bloom: (in microbiology) The rapid and largely uncontrolled growth of a species, such as algae in waterways enriched with nutrients.

cathode: The positive terminal of a battery, and the negatively charged electrode in an electrolytic cell. It attracts positively charged particles. During discharge, the cathode attracts electrons from outside the battery.

cell: (in biology) The smallest structural and functional unit of an organism. Typically too small to see with the unaided eye, it consists of a watery fluid surrounded by a membrane or wall. Depending on their size, animals are made of anywhere from thousands to trillions of cells. Most organisms, such as yeasts, molds, bacteria and some algae, are composed of only one cell.

chemical: A substance formed from two or more atoms that unite (bond) in a fixed proportion and structure. For example, water is a chemical made when two hydrogen atoms bond to one oxygen atom. Its chemical formula is H ₂ O. Chemical also can be an adjective to describe properties of materials that are the result of various reactions between different compounds.

chemistry: The field of science that deals with the composition, structure and properties of substances and how they interact. Scientists use this knowledge to study unfamiliar substances, to reproduce large quantities of useful substances or to design and create new and useful substances. (about compounds) Chemistry also is used as a term to refer to the recipe of a compound, the way it's produced or some of its properties. People who work in this field are known as chemists. (in social science) A term for the ability of people to cooperate, get along and enjoy each other's company.

colleague: Someone who works with another; a co-worker or team member.

conductor: (in physics and engineering) A material through which an electrical current can flow.

continent: (in geology) The huge land masses that sit upon tectonic plates. In modern times, there are six established geologic continents: North America, South America, Eurasia, Africa, Australia and Antarctica. In 2017, scientists also made the case for yet another: Zealandia.

crude oil: Petroleum in the form as it comes out of the ground.

debris: Scattered fragments, typically of trash or of something that has been destroyed. Space debris, for instance, includes the wreckage of defunct satellites and spacecraft.

electron: A negatively charged particle, usually found orbiting the outer regions of an atom; also, the carrier of electricity within solids.

electronics: Devices that are powered by electricity but whose properties are controlled by the semiconductors or other circuitry that channel or gate the movement of electric charges.

environment: The sum of all of the things that exist around some organism or the process and the condition those things create. Environment may refer to the weather and ecosystem in which some animal lives, or, perhaps, the temperature and humidity (or even the placement of things in the vicinity of an item of interest).

environmental science: The study of ecosystems to help identify environmental problems and possible solutions. Environmental science can bring together many fields including physics, chemistry, biology and oceanography to understand how ecosystems function and how humans can coexist with them in harmony. People who work in this field are known as environmental scientists.

fertilizer: Nitrogen, phosphorus and other plant nutrients added to soil, water or foliage to boost crop growth or to replenish nutrients that were lost earlier as they were used by plant roots or leaves.

greenhouse gas: A gas that contributes to the greenhouse effect by absorbing heat. Carbon dioxide is one example of a greenhouse gas.

hydrocarbon: Any of a range of large molecules containing chemically bound carbon and hydrogen atoms. Crude oil, for example, is a naturally occurring mix of many hydrocarbons.

hydrogen: The lightest element in the universe. As a gas, it is colorless, odorless and highly flammable. It's an integral part of many fuels, fats and chemicals that make up living tissues. It's made of a single proton (which serves as its nucleus) orbited by a single electron.

iron: A metallic element that is common within minerals in Earth's crust and in its hot core. This metal also is found in cosmic dust and in many meteorites.

methane: A hydrocarbon with the chemical formula CH ₄ (meaning there are four hydrogen atoms bound to one carbon atom). It's a natural constituent of what's known as natural gas. It's also emitted by decomposing plant material in wetlands and is belched out by cows and other ruminant livestock. From a climate perspective, methane is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide is in trapping heat in Earth's atmosphere, making it a very important greenhouse gas.

microbe: Short for microorganism. A living thing that is too small to see with the unaided eye, including bacteria, some fungi and many other organisms such as amoebas. Most consist of a single cell.

microscopic: An adjective for things too small to be seen by the unaided eye. It takes a microscope to view objects this small, such as bacteria or other one-celled organisms.

mineral: Crystal-forming substances that make up rock, such as quartz, apatite or various carbonates. Most rocks contain several different minerals mish-mashed together. A mineral usually is solid and stable at room temperatures and has a specific formula, or recipe (with atoms occurring in certain proportions) and a specific crystalline structure (meaning that its atoms are organized in regular three-dimensional patterns).

molecule: An electrically neutral group of atoms that represents the smallest possible amount of a chemical compound. Molecules can be made of single types of atoms or of different types. For example, the oxygen in the air is made of two oxygen atoms (O ₂), but water is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom (H ₂ O).

nitrate: An ion formed by the combination of a nitrogen atom bound to three oxygen atoms. The term is also used as a general name for any of various related compounds formed by the combination of such atoms.

nutrient: A vitamin, mineral, fat, carbohydrate or protein that a plant, animal or other organism requires as part of its food in order to survive.

organic: (in chemistry) An adjective that indicates something is carbon-containing; also a term that relates to the basic chemicals that make up living organisms. (in agriculture) Farm products grown without the use of non-natural and potentially toxic chemicals, such as pesticides.

oxygen: A gas that makes up about 21 percent of Earth's atmosphere. All animals and many microorganisms need oxygen to fuel their growth (and metabolism).

parallel: An adjective that describes two things that are side by side and have the same distance between their parts. In the word "all," the final two letters are parallel lines. Or two things, events or processes that have much in common if compared side by side.

plastic: Any of a series of materials that are easily deformable; or synthetic materials that have been made from polymers (long strings of some building-block molecule) that tend to be lightweight, inexpensive and resistant to degradation. (adj.) A material that is able to adapt by changing shape or possibly even changing its function.

potent: An adjective for something (like a germ, poison, drug or acid) that is very strong or powerful.

protein: A compound made from one or more long chains of amino acids. Proteins are an essential part of all living organisms. They form the basis of living cells, muscle and tissues; they also do the work inside of cells. Among the better-known, stand-alone proteins are the hemoglobin (in blood) and the antibodies (also in blood) that attempt to fight infections. Medicines frequently work by latching onto proteins.

sea: An ocean (or region that is part of an ocean). Unlike lakes and streams, seawater - or ocean water - is salty.

sediment: Material (such as stones and sand) deposited by water, wind or glaciers.

sewage: Wastes - primarily urine and feces - that are mixed with water and flushed away from homes through a system of pipes for disposal in the environment (sometimes after being treated in a big water-treatment plant).

sulfate: A family of chemical compounds that are related to sulfuric acid (H ₂SO ₄). Sulfates occur naturally in drinking water.

toxic: Poisonous or able to harm or kill cells, tissues or whole organisms. The measure of risk posed by such a poison is its toxicity.

unique: Something that is unlike anything else; the only one of its kind.

waste: Any materials that are left over from biological or other systems that have no value, so they can be disposed of as trash or recycled for some new use.

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Bacterial 'living wires' could help protect the seas and climate

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Long, thin bacteria that conduct electricity may be able to help clean up oil spills and reduce emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.