Modeling volcanic debris clouds
When a volcano violently erupts, a plume of ash and gases spews skyward. The hot slurry quickly rises into the atmosphere, where various atmospheric dynamics interact to shape the volcanic cloud's composition, height, and radiative properties. Volcan.....»»
Computer modeling research reveals the changing history of a global ice sheet
Imagine that a massive ice sheet covered Canada and oozed down over a large part of the northern United States, like icing spilling down the side of a cake. That was the situation somewhere between 19,000 and 26,000 years ago. The ice sheet covered l.....»»
Volcanic eruption burns houses in Indonesia, killing at least 10 people
Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency said Monday that at least 10 people have died as a series of volcanic eruptions widens on the remote island of Flores......»»
African Sahara "greening" can alter Northern Hemisphere climate, modeling study finds
Africa's Sahara Desert may be considered a vast expanse of barren sand with limited vegetation, an extreme environment for plants and animals to thrive, but life always finds a way. Indeed, vegetation growth in the desert has waxed and waned over mil.....»»
Cloud-inspired method of guiding light: Waveguiding mechanism could provide new ways to look inside the human body
Scientists have taken inspiration from the way sunlight passes through clouds to discover an entirely new way of controlling and guiding light......»»
Hubble and Webb probe surprisingly smooth disk around Vega
In the 1997 movie "Contact," adapted from Carl Sagan's 1985 novel, the lead character scientist Ellie Arroway (played by actor Jodi Foster) takes a space-alien-built wormhole ride to the star Vega. She emerges inside a snowstorm of debris encircling.....»»
Taiwan cleans up after Typhoon Kong-rey leaves two dead
Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris in Taiwan on Friday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the island in decades claimed at least two lives......»»
Laser measurements help track space debris and observe water masses
What do the Earth's gravitational field and the trajectories of satellites and space debris have in common? The Earth's gravitational field influences the orbits of our companions in space, while the changes in the orbits in turn allow conclusions to.....»»
Astrophysics study explores turbulence in molecular clouds
On an airplane, motions of the air on both small and large scales contribute to turbulence, which may result in a bumpy flight. Turbulence on a much larger scale is important to how stars form in giant molecular clouds that permeate the Milky Way......»»
How life began on Earth: Modeling the ancient atmosphere
The key to unlocking the secrets of distant planets starts right here on Earth. Researchers at Tohoku University, the University of Tokyo, and Hokkaido University have developed a model that considers various atmospheric chemical reactions to estimat.....»»
Volcanic "cryptic carbon" emissions may be a hidden driver of Earth"s past climate
An international team of geoscientists led by a volcanologist at Rutgers University-New Brunswick has discovered that, contrary to present scientific understanding, ancient volcanoes continued to spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from deep with.....»»
Modeling study addresses future algal blooms and human impact
What does the future hold for our lakes globally—clear waters or widespread algal blooms? A new study is the first to model and project algal blooms on a global scale under different socio-economic and climate scenarios. Conducted by the UK Centre.....»»
The Cloud Latency Map measures latency across 100+ cloud regions
Kentik launched The Cloud Latency Map, a free public tool allowing anyone to explore the latencies measured between over 100 cloud regions worldwide. Users can identify recent changes in latencies globally between various public clouds and data cente.....»»
Newly discovered cyanobacteria could help sequester carbon from oceans and factories
An international coalition of researchers from the United States and Italy has discovered a novel strain of cyanobacteria, or algae, isolated from volcanic ocean vents that is especially adept at growing rapidly in the presence of CO2 and readily si.....»»
Dinosaurs thrived after ice, not fire, says a new study of ancient volcanism
201.6 million years ago, one of the Earth's five great mass extinctions took place, when three-quarters of all living species suddenly disappeared. The wipeout coincided with massive volcanic eruptions that split apart Pangaea, a giant continent then.....»»
Treat or Trick? Astronomical Objects Are Beautiful—And Creepy
If you’ve ever seen faces in clouds, these heavenly entities will leave you haunted.....»»
Plans to Destroy the International Space Station Preview a Bigger Orbital Junk Problem
A special spacecraft will guide the space station through Earth’s atmosphere, but what about other large pieces of space debris?.....»»
Tropical storm leaves towns submerged, 76 dead in Philippines
Homeowners in the northern Philippines used spades and rakes to clear out debris left by Tropical Storm Trami on Friday while rescuers trawled through thick mud looking for the missing as the death toll rose to 76......»»
Indian capital chokes as "hazardous" air pollution returns
Acrid clouds engulfed India's capital on Wednesday as air pollution fueled by fireworks and farm stubble burning was ranked "hazardous" by monitors for the first time this winter......»»
Modeling study shows that marshes provide cost-effective coastal protection
Images of coastal houses being carried off into the sea due to eroding coastlines and powerful storm surges are becoming more commonplace as climate change brings a rising sea level coupled with more powerful storms. In the U.S. alone, coastal storms.....»»
Scientists find evidence of hellish, volcanic moon orbiting a distant exoplanet
Scientists have not yet found direct evidence of a moon outside our solar system -- but they just found a hint of a hellish one......»»