Museum of Science and Industry

Summer has a lot of great things: fireworks, pools, barbecues and great weather. However, there is a bad part about spending all that time outside: sunburns.

One can imagine that there have been sunburns for as long as we've had skin. While we've learned a lot about how the sun's UV rays damage the skin, little has been known as to why overexposure turns it into a red painful mess. That is,

As someone who tans rather than burns in the sun, I have always had a very laid-back attitude about sunscreen. I figured that if it didn’t hurt, there must not be any damage – but I was wrong! Take a look at the image above. Notice how different the two sides look? This is not due to an accident or a disorder. The difference is due to sun exposure while driving! After 28...

I’ve always suspected that the sun was up to something. Have you ever noticed that you can’t look directly at it? It hurts. Which means that it can get away with whatever it wants! For now. Soon we’ll be able to see what that sneaky old star is up to, thanks to a joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency launching in 2017.

The mission will send a Solar Orbiter,...

What if I told you that researchers have found another star, in our galaxy, that was the same size as our sun? You would say “Big deal. We’ve found, like, ten billion of those.” But this star may be special! It’s called HP 56948, and a recent paper called it "the best solar twin known to date." HP 56948 has the same unusual chemical makeup as our...

Hooray! It’s spring! It’s finally getting sunny outside! Happy dogs chasing balls! Long bike rides in the park! And of course, salesmen trying to get their hands on your hard-earned money. Because I'm sure any good salesperson already knows what recent research from Canada has found: when the sun comes out, our spending goes up.

It’s not just that we buy more, either. On a sunny day,...