Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Aug 31, 2013

Earthquake Detection: Smartphone Tech Could Improve Response

Small sensors found in most smartphones and laptops are sensitive enough to detect the movement of moderate and large earthquakes, and could vastly expand the information gathered during seismic events in densely populated cities, new research suggests. The devices, called micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) accelerometers, measure movement in three dimensions and...

Jul 31, 2013

7 Amazing Places to Visit with Google Street View

Cool Google street views (Image credit: Google Maps.)Armchair exploration has never been easier. For those that don't have the money or physical stamina to make it to the world's highest mountains or to see its biggest underwater treasures, Google Street View is one of the tools available to bring panoramic...

Jul 31, 2013

Trove of Ancient Marsupial Fossils Discovered in Australia

Paleontologists have uncovered a fossil field in Australia that fills a large gap in the continent's environmental history, and contains several previously unknown ancient species of marsupials and bats. Researchers at the University of New South Wales discovered the site near the Riversleigh fossil field, an UNESCO World Heritage site,...

Jul 31, 2013

How Superstorm Sandy Changed Views of Weather Threats

NEW YORK — Superstorm Sandy provided a vivid demonstration not only of how extreme weather can affect heavily-populated areas, but also the sociological issue of how society views the risk such weather poses to people. The recent public focus on national security risks has come at the expense of preparation...

Jul 31, 2013

10 Years After Record Blackout, is U.S. Any Better Prepared? (Op-Ed)

Mike Jacobs is a senior energy analyst for the Climate & Energy program of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). This artcile is adapted from a post that originally appeared on the UCS blog, The Equation. Jacobs contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Electricity grid operators...

Jul 31, 2013

One-Shot Volcanoes Can Be Explosively Dangerous

Volcanoes with multiple eruptions get all the glory, earning top spots on lists of the world's most dangerous and most famous fiery mountains. But monogenetic volcanoes, which erupt briefly and then die, are more common on land than volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens and Mt. Etna, which periodically outpour...

Jul 31, 2013

Giant Sequoias at Risk from California Fire

A raging forest fire sweeping toward Yosemite National Park in California may threaten giant sequoia trees. The massive Rim Fire is an intense crown fire, meaning it is burning and leaping in the tops of trees instead of crawling along the ground. The National Park Service has closed two of...

Jul 31, 2013

Atmospheric Pressure: Definition & Facts

Books on meteorology often describe Earth's atmosphere as a huge ocean of air in which we all live. Diagrams depict our home planet as being surrounded by a great sea of atmosphere, a few hundred miles high, divided into several different layers. And yet, that part of our atmosphere that...

Jun 30, 2013

Solar Plane Makes Dramatic Landing in NYC to End Cross-Country Flight

NEW YORK — A solar-powered airplane that was set to complete an historic cross-country journey across the United States this weekend made a dramatic early landing late Saturday (July 6), when damage was observed on one of the aircraft's wings. The plane, called Solar Impulse, touched down here at John...

Jun 30, 2013

55-Carat Diamond Dazzles at NYC Museum

The dazzling 55-carat Kimberley Diamond makes its debut at the American Museum of Natural History in New York Thursday (July 11). The champagne-colored cape diamond was originally cut from a 490-carat stone found sometime before 1868 in the Kimberley Mine in South Africa. (A carat is a unit of weight...

Jun 30, 2013

If A Network Is Broken, Break It More

(ISNS) -- From the World Wide Web to the electrical grid, networks are notoriously difficult to control. A disturbance to just one part of the system can spread quickly and affect the whole thing. But this problem is its own solution: by selectively damaging part of the network, we can...

Jun 30, 2013

What the Heck Is ... Heat Stroke?

Dr. Eric Adkins is the Medical Director of the Emergency Medicine Department at The Ohio State University (OSU) Wexner Medical Center. He contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Heat stroke is the most severe form of heat illness and is a life-threatening emergency. The elderly, infants,...

Jun 30, 2013

Earthquakes Burp Up Methane Bubbles

The long-suspected link between earthquakes and underwater methane bursts has finally been confirmed, reports a study published today (July 28) in the journal Nature Geoscience. Though the temblor wasn't caught in the act, the strong shaking left clues in methane-rich mud and sand offshore of Pakistan, where two of Earth's...

May 31, 2013

Scaling Up Solar Power May Demand Updated Electric Grid

(ISNS) -- One hour's worth of global sunlight would be enough to power the world's energy requirements for an entire year. But even if humankind can someday harness solar power to meet global energy needs, there is another problem engineers will have to tackle: integrating solar power with existing electrical...

May 31, 2013

Lost World Locked in Stone at Fossil Lake

With just two inhabited buildings and a population of five, Fossil, Wyo., is all but a ghost town today. But as far as ghosts go, the ones at Fossil are pretty remarkable — 50-million-year-old monitor lizards, stingrays and freakishly long-tailed turtles among them. Fossil showed promise of becoming a train-stop...