NASA astronaut Frank Rubio is back on Earth after a record-breaking 371 continuous days in space.
Why it matters: Understanding what happens to the human body during long-duration stays in orbit is crucial before sending astronauts to farther afield destinations like the Moon and Mars.
This summer featured the hottest days yet recorded worldwide. And we're already seeing some of the biggest temperature anomalies of any fall season.
Our thought bubble: There have been so many temperature records set this year that some of the words we use to describe them — "unprecedented," "record" and "unusual" — are losing their punch.
Powerful space-based sensors and tools are monitoring deforestation around the world in close to real time, arming companies, nongovernmental organizations and governments with data to combat the growing problem.
Why it matters: Deforestation, which can contribute to climate change and habitat loss, is a particularly thorny problem to tackle on Earth because it typically happens in remote areas and is difficult to track from the ground.
