On June 5th or 6th, 2012 (depending on your global location) Venus will appear to cross the face of the Sun for the final time until 2117. Discover the fascinating history and important science of the Transit of Venus.

By the end of the 19th Century, the relative spacing of the planets was known but the absolute distance between them was not. This scientific mystery spanning centuries was finally solved by accurate measurement of Venus Transits of 1874 and 1882.

Offering un-obstructed views of the Sun from horizon to horizon and superb weather, Hawaii was perfect for astronomers to view Venus Transits in 1874 and 1882. Such observations accurately determined the scale of the Solar System for the first time.

Sky-watching, navigation and the poetry of the cosmos runs deep in Hawaiian culture. Now Hawaiian elementary school students are diving deeply into astronomy’s the history and future through the Venus Transit.

The influence of the ground beneath us on the air around us could be greater than scientists had previously thought, according to new research that links the long-ago proliferation of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere to a sudden change in the inner workings of our planet.

Researchers are trying to understand the origins of the beautiful planetary nebula Sharpless 2-71.

In 1882, scientists determined Earth’s distance from the Sun by measuring the Venus Transit. This process, now applied in NASA orbiting Kepler Mission, discovers new planets by measuring the light-curve of transit across other stars faraway.

Hawaii is a metaphor for Earth’s place in the cosmos. Native Hawaiians have long recognized the sky’s spiritual and intellectual value. Hawaii hosted observers of the Venus Transits of 1874 & 1882; and it warmly supports astrophysicists today.

The hordes of bark beetles that have bored their way through more than 6 billion trees in the western U.S. and British Columbia since the 1990s do more than damage and kill stately pine, spruce and other trees. A new study finds that these pests can make trees release up ...

(Phys.org) -- A Sandia modeling study contradicts a long-held belief of geologists that pore sizes and chemical compositions are uniform throughout a given strata, which are horizontal slices of sedimentary rock.