News tagged with desert

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Desert dust alters ecology of Colorado alpine meadows

Desert Dust Alters Ecology of Colorado Alpine Meadows

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jun 29, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (50) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Accelerated snowmelt--precipitated by desert dust blowing into the mountains--changes how alpine plants respond to seasonal climate cues that regulate their life cycles, according to results ...


African desert rift confirmed as new ocean in the making

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (37) | comments 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled ...


Sahara

Will Europe Be Powered by the Sahara

Technology / Energy

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (23) | comments 27

(PhysOrg.com) -- Europe has long been interested in developing alternative energy sources. And, one of the more interesting places that some Europeans are looking for solar power is the Sahara. With the vast ...


Nullarbor fireball cameras find rare meteorite

Researchers make rare meteorite find using new camera network in Australian desert

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Sep 17, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (19) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered an unusual kind of meteorite in the Western Australian desert and have uncovered where in the Solar System it came from, in a very rare finding published today ...


Drinking water from air humidity

Drinking water from air humidity

Technology / Engineering

created Jun 05, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (16) | comments 12

Cracks permeate the dried-out desert ground, the landscape bears testimony to the lack of water. But even here, where there are no lakes, rivers or groundwater, considerable quantities of water are stored ...


Giant stone-age axes found in African lake basin

Giant stone-age axes found in African lake basin

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Sep 10, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (18) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- A giant African lake basin is providing information about possible migration routes and hunting practices of early humans in the Middle and Late Stone Age periods, between 150,000 and 10,000 ...


Desert damage: the dark side of solar power?

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 30, 2009 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (19) | comments 40

Thousands of acres of solar panels could spring up across California's Mojave Desert like a crop of crystal mushrooms -- a new kind of gold rush meant to bring powerful environmental benefits.


A Hidden Drip, Drip, Drip Beneath Earth's Surface

A Hidden Drip, Drip, Drip Beneath Earth's Surface

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 26, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (13) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- There are very few places in the world where dynamic activity taking place beneath Earth's surface goes undetected.


VISTA: Pioneering new survey telescope starts work

VISTA: Pioneering new survey telescope starts work

Space & Earth / Astronomy

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

VISTA is the latest telescope to be added to ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is housed on the peak adjacent to the one hosting the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) and shares ...


Study reveals sandfish tucks legs and swims like a snake through desert sand

Study Reveals Small Lizard Tucks Legs and Swims Like a Snake Through Desert Sand (w/ Video)

Physics / General Physics

created Jul 16, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (11) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A study published in the July 17 issue of the journal Science details how sandfish -- small lizards with smooth scales -- move rapidly underground through desert sand. In this first thorou ...


Death Trap

Young dinosaurs roamed together, died together (w/Video)

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Mar 16, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (10) | comments 0

A herd of young birdlike dinosaurs met their death on the muddy margins of a lake some 90 million years ago, according to a team of Chinese and American paleontologists that excavated the site in the Gobi ...


Hydrophobic Sand

Hydrophobic Sand Could Combat Desert Water Shortages

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Feb 16, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (12) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- Water scarcity is a major problem for people living in desert areas, including much of the Middle East and Africa. According to the United Nations, more than 1.6 million people die every year ...


Desert rhubarb -- a self-irrigating plant

Desert rhubarb -- a self-irrigating plant

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 01, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 1

Researchers from the Department of Science Education-Biology at the University of Haifa-Oranim have managed to make out the "self-irrigating" mechanism of the desert rhubarb, which enables it to harvest 16 ...


NASA Tests Rover Concepts in Arizona

NASA Tests Rover Concepts in Arizona

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Oct 27, 2008 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's newest lunar rover prototype has now gone farther than it ever has before.


Sand dunes reveal unexpected dryness during heavy monsoon

Sand dunes reveal unexpected dryness during heavy monsoon

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 06, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- The windswept deserts of northern China might seem an odd destination for studying the heavy monsoon rains that routinely drench the more tropical regions of Southeast Asia.