Unraveling a paradox of Himalayan glacier melt
One in five glaciers on Earth are covered with a layer of rocky debris. The presence of debris influences how glaciers melt. In the Himalaya, debris covers most large glaciers, and it is so thick that it should insulate the ice, slowing the rates of.....»»
Unraveling DNA packaging
Researchers report how high-speed atomic force microscopy can be used for studying DNA wrapping processes. The technique enables visualizing the dynamics of DNA-protein interactions, which in certain cases resembles the motion of inchworms......»»
CryoSat reveals ice loss from glaciers in Alaska and Asia
As our climate warms, ice melting from glaciers around the world is one of main causes of sea-level rise. As well as being a major contributor to this worrying trend, the loss of glacier ice also poses a direct threat to hundreds of millions of peopl.....»»
Slushy iceberg aggregates control calving timing on Greenland"s Jakobshavn Isbræ
Shortly before Jakobshavn Isbræ, a tidewater glacier in Greenland, calves massive chunks of ice into the ocean, there's a sudden change in the slushy collection of icebergs floating along the glacier's terminus, according to a new paper led by the C.....»»
Europa"s interior may be hot enough to fuel seafloor volcanoes
Jupiter's moon Europa has an icy crust covering a vast, global ocean. The rocky layer underneath may be hot enough to melt, leading to undersea volcanoes......»»
Global study of glacier debris shows impact on melt rate
A large-scale research project at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has revealed insight into the relationship between surface debris on glaciers and the rate at which they melt......»»
How flood protection can paradoxically put people at risk
Governments who build defences against rising seas can actually increase their citizens' risk of being flooded—if they fail to take account of the 'safe development paradox," according to a flood defence expert......»»
Glaciologists measure, model hard glacier beds, write slip law to estimate glacier speeds
The field photos show the hard, rough country that some glaciers slide over: rocky domes and bumps in granite, rocky steps and depressions in limestone. The glacier beds dwarf the researchers and their instruments. (As do the high mountains pictured.....»»
Unraveling positional and structural errors in numerical weather forecast models
Due to the chaotic nature of the atmosphere, weather forecasts, even with ever improving numerical weather prediction models, eventually lose their accuracy. Meteorologists have a strong desire to better understand this process as they try to trace f.....»»
THz emission spectroscopy reveals optical response of GaInN/GaN multiple quantum wells
A team of researchers at the Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, in collaboration with Bielefeld University and Technical University Braunschweig in Germany, came closer to unraveling the complicated optical response of wide-bandgap sem.....»»
Strange isotopes: Scientists explain a methane isotope paradox of the seafloor
Methane, a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH4, is not only a powerful greenhouse gas, but also an important energy source. It heats our homes, and even seafloor microbes make a living of it. The microbes use a process called anaerobic o.....»»
Unraveling a mystery of dinoflagellate genomic architecture
New work from a Stanford University-led team of researchers including Carnegie's Arthur Grossman and Tingting Xiang unravels a longstanding mystery about the relationship between form and function in the genetic material of a diverse group of algae c.....»»
Glacier avalanches more common than thought
One tends to think of mountain glaciers as slow moving, their gradual passage down a mountainside visible only through a long series of satellite imagery or years of time-lapse photography. However, new research shows that glacier flow can be much mo.....»»
Melting Mountain Glaciers May Not Survive the Century
Scientists crunched 20 years’ worth of satellite data to estimate the melt rate across the planet, and the news isn’t good......»»
Native American lawmakers seek federal help on Montana bison
Native American lawmakers in Montana on Tuesday called on the Biden administration to help craft a plan to reintroduce wild bison to the landscape in and around Glacier National Park and the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge......»»
Can extreme melt destabilize ice sheets?
Nearly a decade ago, global news outlets reported vast ice melt in the Arctic as sapphire lakes glimmered across the previously frozen Greenland Ice Sheet, one of the most important contributors to sea-level rise. Now researchers have revealed the lo.....»»
Rock glaciers will slow Himalayan ice melt
Some Himalayan glaciers are more resilient to global warming than previously predicted, new research suggests......»»
Can a new type of glacier on Mars aid future astronauts?
On April 21, 1908, near Earth's North Pole, the Arctic explorer Frederick Albert Cook scrawled in his diary a memorable phrase: "We were the only pulsating creatures in a dead world of ice." These words may soon take on new significance for humankind.....»»
Google Earth is now a 3D time machine
Google puts 20 petabytes of historical satellite data into the Google Earth globe. You can now watch glaciers melt away forever in 3D. [credit: Goo.....»»
Glacier melt to redirect Alaska"s Alsek River, endangering world-famous rafting route
The Alsek River flows from the Yukon Territory in northern Canada to the Pacific Ocean, with its mouth right on the edge of Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. On its course, the Alsek cuts through some of the wildest country in North America—glac.....»»
Geotextiles could slow glacial melt, but at what cost?
In the Swiss Alps, some ski resorts and glacial tourist attractions are using reflective blankets known as geotextiles to protect parts of glaciers from accelerated summer melt caused by global warming. These businesses' stable winter incomes enable.....»»