Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Nov 30, 2010

Mount Merapi Mudflows Chase Indonesian Villagers Away

Just because a volcano has stopped erupting doesn't mean it isn't still dangerous. Roughly 341 people have died since Mount Merapi began erupting in central Indonesia on Oct. 26. As of Dec. 3, Indonesia had downgraded the alert level for the volcano, the BBC reports (other Indonesian volcanoes are still...

Nov 30, 2010

Alps' River-Carved Gorges Held Out Against Glaciers, Study Finds

The jaw-dropping gorges of the Swiss Alps were created by a one-two punch of grinding glaciers and slicing rivers, a new study suggests. For years, geologists have argued about the processes that formed steep inner gorges in the broad glacial valleys of the Swiss Alps. The U-shaped valleys were created...

Nov 30, 2010

Life with Lions: Wildlife Filmmakers Tell All

For more than 30 years, Dereck and Beverly Joubert have documented the lives of Africa's iconic and endangered big cats, first in their native South Africa, and now in Botswana, their home since 1981. From their home base on a tiny island, in a river around which lions prowl ,...

Nov 30, 2010

Our Daily Planet: Tropical Storm Forecast and BP Oil

Each weekday morning, OurAmazingPlanet takes the pulse of the Earth, reporting on natural phenomena and exploration news from around the globe. Tropical Storm Outlook: Early forecasts for the 2011 topical storm season suggest that it could be a busy one. [Related: Curtain Closes on One of the Busiest Hurricane Seasons...

Nov 30, 2010

Our Daily Planet: Weekend Weather and Martina Navratilova's Charity Climb

Each weekday morning, OurAmazingPlanet takes the pulse of the Earth, reporting on natural phenomena and exploration news from around the globe. Take That Snow and Shovel It: Parts of Europe are digging out from under their heaviest snow in nearly 50 years. Stateside, get ready for a cold, wet and...

Nov 30, 2010

Meltwater Could Paradoxically Slow Glacier Flow

It is well established that the glaciers that flow from Greenland's massive ice sheet like rivers of ice are, in some cases, sliding toward the sea much more quickly than they did in the past. Many scientists have suspected that global warming was behind the speed-up in the process, and...

Nov 30, 2010

Braided Rivers Flow Through Northern Italy

Three of northeastern Italy's rivers, the Cellina, Meduna and Tagliamento can be seen in this image taken on Sept. 21 by NASA's Landsat 5 satellite, as they flow toward the Adriatic Sea. The gravel-coated riverbeds contrast sharply with the surrounding landscape, highlighting the river contours. The rivers are fed by...

Nov 30, 2010

Our Daily Planet: Yellowstone Opens and San Francisco's Fragile Bay

Each weekday morning, OurAmazingPlanet takes the pulse of the Earth, reporting on natural phenomena and exploration news from around the globe. Fragile Bay: Four years into a big push to revive the damaged San Francisco Bay Delta, the West Coast's largest estuary, the project is in just as bad a...

Nov 30, 2010

Puzzle of Antarctic Ice Melt Solved

Researchers have finally found an answer to a question they have been asking for years: Recent data and satellite information have indicated what has been driving the rapid loss of ice in Western Antarctica. Glaciologists from the University of Colorado at Boulder and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland...

Nov 30, 2010

Upgraded Sub Could Reach 98 Percent of Ocean Deep

SAN FRANCISCO A U.S. Navy-owned submarine that located a lost hydrogen bomb and scouted the wreck of the Titanic is getting a $40 million makeover to go deeper than ever before. But first things first: Some interior redecorating will allow the submarine's occupants to observe deep sea life without holding...

Nov 30, 2010

Fake Landslides May Help Understand Natural Ones

Using artificial landslides created in a giant outdoor laboratory, scientists have uncovered key details on how these disasters happen — research that could help them improve forecasts of landslides' size and impact. Many landslides are triggered when intense rainfall or snowmelt loosens steep, debris-laden slopes. As the torrentssurge downward, they...

Nov 30, 2010

Most Amazing Images of Earth from 2010

Aei Album Earth From Moon (Image credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)Planet Earth is a place of astounding beauty, from the depths of its oceans, to the edges of its atmosphere. Here, we take a look back at 2010 through the amazing images of our home planet captured during the year from...

Nov 30, 2010

Our Daily Planet: Southern California's Polluted Water and National Zoo Pandas

Each weekday morning, OurAmazingPlanet takes the pulse of the Earth, reporting on natural phenomena and exploration news from around the globe. California Storms: As Southern California recovers from recent brutal storms, residents now face polluted water and a high risk of mudslides. [Related: Pineapple Express Slams Southern California .] National...

Nov 30, 2010

EPA to Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions

With efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions via legislation stalled in Congress, the Obama Administration is now pushing to get the job done with unilateral regulation. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last night (Dec. 23) that it would move to curb the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of power plants...

Nov 30, 2010

Snowstorm from Space: Satellite Image of the Blizzard

The great blizzard of December 2010 is winding down today (Dec. 27), and a new satellite image shows the powerful storm from space. The powerful low-pressure system brought blizzard conditions from northern New Jersey to Maine over Christmas weekend. The GOES-13 satellite captured an image of the storm's center off...