Going vertical: Fleeing tsunamis by moving up, not out

Going vertical: Fleeing tsunamis by moving up, not out

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the minutes after a strong earthquake struck offshore of the Indonesian city of Padang on Sept. 30, fears of a tsunami prompted hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate the coastal ...


A Superbright Supernova That’s the First of Its Kind

A Superbright Supernova That’s the First of Its Kind

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (24) | comments 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- An extraordinarily bright, extraordinarily long-lasting supernova named SN 2007bi, snagged in a search by a robotic telescope, turns out to be the first example of the kind of stars that first ...


Hypoxia increases as climate warms

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 15, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 2

A new study of Pacific Ocean sediments off the coast of Chile has found that offshore waters experienced systematic oxygen depletion during the rapid warming of the Antarctic following the last "glacial maximum" period 20,000 ...


Born in beauty: Proplyds in the Orion Nebula

Born in beauty: Proplyds in the Orion Nebula (w/ Video)

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- A collection of 30 never-before-released images of embryonic planetary systems in the Orion Nebula are the highlight of the longest single Hubble Space Telescope project ever dedicated to ...


US launches space-mapping satellite WISE

WISE satellite blasts off on space-map mission

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 4

NASA launched Monday a new breed of satellite called WISE on a mission to orbit Earth and map the skies to find elusive cosmic objects, including potentially dangerous asteroids.


How to Find Signs of Life on Mars

How to Find Signs of Life on Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2

By studying the signatures of fossil life on Earth, geobiologists can get a clue of what to look for when hunting for extraterrestrial life on Mars.


Acid oceans: the 'evil twin' of climate change (AP)

Acid oceans: the 'evil twin' of climate change

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (21) | comments 22

(AP) -- Far from Copenhagen's turbulent climate talks, the sea lions, harbor seals and sea otters reposing along the shoreline and kelp forests of this protected marine area stand to gain from any global ...


Hawaiian hot spot has deep roots

Hawaiian hot spot has deep roots

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Hawaii may be paradise for vacationers, but for geologists it has long been a puzzle. Plate tectonic theory readily explains the existence of volcanoes at boundaries where plates split apart ...


Feds mull regulating drugs in water

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 22, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- Federal regulators under President Barack Obama have sharply shifted course on long-standing policy toward pharmaceutical residues in the nation's drinking water, taking a critical first step toward regulating some ...


Computer-simulated Thunderstorms with Ice Clouds Reveal Insights for Next-generation Computer Models

Computer-simulated Thunderstorms with Ice Clouds Reveal Insights for Next-generation Computer Models

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Computer simulations of thunderstorms using data from a field campaign in Australia confirm that the "ice-phase" cloud processes in climate models contribute most to the wide discrepancy between ...


Suzaku catches retreat of a black hole's disk

Suzaku catches retreat of a black hole's disk

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (16) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Studies of one of the galaxy's most active black-hole binaries reveal a dramatic change that will help scientists better understand how these systems expel fast-moving particle jets.


Caltech scientists explain puzzling lake asymmetry on Titan

Scientists explain puzzling lake asymmetry on Titan

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Nov 29, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 0

Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) suggest that the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit around the sun may be responsible for the unusually uneven distribution of methane and ethane ...


More Filipinos leave homes as volcano spills lava (AP)

More Filipinos leave homes as volcano spills lava

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(AP) -- Security forces in army trucks Friday sent about 3,000 residents outside the danger zone surrounding the smoldering Mayon volcano, which looked set for a major eruption after days of shooting ash ...


Diplomatic frenzy at final day of UN climate talks (AP)

Diplomatic frenzy at final day of UN climate talks

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 18, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (4) | comments 2

(AP) -- A diplomatic frenzy enveloped the final day of the U.N. climate conference Friday, with President Barack Obama twice meeting privately with China's premier as world leaders pressed to salvage a global ...


Major volcanic eruption feared in Philippines (AP)

Major volcanic eruption feared in Philippines

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 20, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 0

(AP) -- The Philippines' most active volcano could have a huge eruption within days, officials warned Sunday after detecting a drastic surge in earthquakes and eerie rumbling sounds in surrounding foothills. ...