Related papers: Inflatable Evergreen Polar Zone Dome (EPZD) Settle…
The potential habitability of known exoplanets is often categorized by a nominal equilibrium temperature assuming a Bond albedo of either 0.3, similar to Earth, or 0. As an indicator of habitability, this leaves much to be desired, because…
Climate change is one of the 21st centurys major challenges. However, the progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is perceived as being too slow. Hence, more radical technologies such as stratospheric aerosol injection are entering…
The oxide heterostructure [(YFeO$_3$)$_5$(LaFeO$_3$)$_5$]$_{40}$, which is magnetically ordered and piezoelectric at room temperature, has been constructed from two weak ferromagnetic AFeO$_3$ perovskites with different A cations using…
The state of earth's climate is constrained by well-known physical principles such as energy balance and the conservation of energy. Increased greenhouse gas concentrations affect the atmospheric optical depth, and physical consistency…
A large number of studies have responded to the growing body of confirmed terrestrial habitable zone exoplanets by presenting models of various possible climates. However, the impact of the partial pressure of background gases such as N$_2$…
Understanding the set of conditions that allow rocky planets to have liquid water on their surface -- in the form of lakes, seas or oceans -- is a major scientific step to determine the fraction of planets potentially suitable for the…
At low temperatures ultrasoft particle systems develop interesting phases via the self-assembly of particle clusters. In this study we develop a general zero-temperature analysis fully characterizing the ground state of such models in two…
Europa's double ridges often display lower albedo and redder color than their surroundings. Their unique topography may cause sublimation-driven darkening due to illumination and self-heating, a process known as thermal segregation. We…
We study the magnetospheric structure and the ionospheric Joule Heating of planets orbiting M-dwarf stars in the habitable zone using a set of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models. The stellar wind solution is used to drive a model for the…
This paper presents a detailed study of the scattering polarization profiles formed under partial frequency redistribution (PRD) in two thermal models of the solar atmosphere. Particular attention is given to understanding the influence of…
Hycean planets -- exoplanets with substantial water ice layers, deep surface oceans, and hydrogen-rich atmospheres -- are thought to be favorable environments for life. Due to a relative paucity of atmospheric greenhouse gases, hycean…
This paper reviews and develops the proposal, widely discussed but not examined in detail, to use stratospheric aerosols to increase the Earth's albedo to Solar radiation in order to control climate change. The potential of this method has…
Stellar insolation has been used as the main constraint on a planet's habitability. However, as more Earth-like planets are discovered around low-mass stars (LMSs), a re-examination of the role of tides on the habitability of exoplanets has…
We analyse a megasatellite settlement built from Ceres materials in high Ceres orbit. Ceres is selected because it has nitrogen, which is necessary for an earthlike atmosphere. To have $1 g$ artificial gravity, spinning habitats are…
This investigation extends earlier studies of a shear-transformation-zone (STZ) theory of plastic deformation in amorphous solids. My main purpose here is to explore the possibility that the configurational degrees of freedom of such…
In order to achieve polariton lasing at room temperature, a new fabrication methodology for planar microcavities is proposed: a ZnO-based microcavity in which the active region is epitaxially grown on an AlGaN/AlN/Si substrate and in which…
We theoretically show that a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system enhanced by a wire metamaterial opens the door to a prospective microgap thermophotovoltaics which will combine high electric output with relatively low temperatures of the…
A recent experimental work on palladium hydrides suggested that metastable structures with hydrogen atoms occupying tetrahedral sites could lead to superconductivity above 50 K, a huge increase compared to the 10 K critical temperature of…
Despite a fainter Sun, the surface of the early Earth was mostly ice-free. Proposed solutions to this so-called "faint young Sun problem" have usually involved higher amounts of greenhouse gases than present in the modern-day atmosphere.…
We explore the potential multistability of the climate for a planet around the habitable zone. We focus on conditions reminiscent to those of the Earth system, but our investigation aims at presenting a general methodology for dealing with…