Archive for the ‘Earth Science’ Category

  • Energy and climate: The hidden stories
    Energy and climate: The hidden stories

    Climate scientists worry about feedbacks, glacial melting, sea level rise, using tax policy to slow warming, and the complexity of climate science. Is it realistic to base our economy on endless growth? What does human behavior tell us about dealing with warming?


    Thursday, February 11th, 2010
  • Shock and aftershock in Haiti
    Shock and aftershock in Haiti

    Aftershocks and triggered earthquakes both follow a large earthquake, and they don’t happen at random. Can lessons about the sequence and timing of quakes improve safety?


    Thursday, January 28th, 2010
  • Planetary limits: More than just global warming
    Planetary limits: More than just global warming

    Scientists propose 9 limits on human actions: Wrecking ozone, over-using fertilizer, killing species could block key “ecosystem services.” Are there natural limits to fresh water use and pollution?


    Thursday, October 1st, 2009
  • No joke: Laughing gas attacks ozone!
    No joke: Laughing gas attacks ozone!

    The ozone layer protects Earth from UV rays: Twenty-two years after a treaty to protect ozone, how is the layer doing? What has happened to the ozone hole above Antarctica?


    Thursday, September 3rd, 2009
  • "No prob" sez life to crashing asteroids!
    “No prob” sez life to crashing asteroids!

    The “late heavy bombardment” burned out any life that was around 4 billion years ago — or not… Plenty of high temperature bacteria could have survived in deep rocks, says a new study.


    Thursday, May 21st, 2009
  • New concern as ocean grows more acidic
    New concern as ocean grows more acidic

    Each hour, the ocean dissolves 1 million tons of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuel. As the water grows more acidic, sound travels further. What will happen to marine mammals, which rely on an exquisite sense of hearing?


    Thursday, November 13th, 2008
  • Earthquake safety: It begins at home
    Earthquake safety: It begins at home

    Construction matters. Hundreds of millions live and work in houses and schools that will collapse in the next earthquake. Chile and California prove that smart engineering saves lives.


    Thursday, May 22nd, 2008
  • Looking anew at diamonds

    New analysis uses light to distinguish one diamond from another. Technique may help jewelers, but won’t help the battle against the “conflict diamonds” that are fueling wars in Africa.


    Thursday, January 10th, 2008
  • Winter’s Weird Weather: What’s the Cause?

    Some call it Fall. Some call it spring. But nobody in the Midwest, East Coast or Northern Europe is calling it “winter.” What’s up with our weather?


    Thursday, January 11th, 2007
  • Antarctic Ozone Hole Sets New Record

    Measurements show a huge ozone hole. How can this happen? We thought ozone-destroying chemicals were being phased out…


    Thursday, October 26th, 2006


Cool Science Images

Image courtesy of Pete Mouginis-Mark, Hawaii Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawaii at Manoa

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