Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 30, 2005

Here We Go Again: Like Wolves, Hurricanes Come in Packs

It doesn't matter what the numbers are. It only takes one hurricane to ruin your year, a whole lot. -- Frank Lepore, National Hurricane Center Like holiday travelers or wolves, hurricanes travel in packs, and this summer is expected to generate more monsters from the same deadly pack that rattled...

Mar 31, 2005

Climates North and South of Equator Said Linked

Earth's equator is sometimes viewed as a bit of a virtual wall that separates the climates of the northern and southern hemispheres. Ocean currents, the main driver of climate, tend to confine themselves to one side or the other. When waters from North and South meet at the equator, they...

Mar 31, 2005

TV Turns Kids into Bullies

Turn off the TV and hang out with your kids. That seems to be the message of a new study on what makes playground bullies. Children who watch a lot of television are more prone to push other kids around, according to the research. Conversely, four-year-olds whose parents tend to...

Mar 31, 2005

Slime-mold Beetles Named for Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld

Namesakes of the U.S. President and two of his key people might be crawling around your back yard as you read this. Three new beetles of the genus Agathidium have been named after members of the current administration: A. bushi, A. cheneyi and A. rumsfeldi. Two former Cornell University entomologists,...

Mar 31, 2005

Finally, a Solid Look at Earth's Core

Scientists have long thought Earth's core is solid. Now they have some solid evidence. The core is thought to be a two-part construction. The inner core is solid iron, and that's surrounding by a molten core, theory holds. Around the core is the mantle, and near the planet's surface is...

Mar 31, 2005

Salmon of Small Stature Endowed with Mating Advantage

Picture the wee little salmon. Choosing not to go to sea, he's waited for a mate for what seems like a lifetime in a streambed in the mountains of Idaho. Months and months go by, perhaps years. Finally she arrives, and she's a whopping 20 pounds. He, having stayed behind,...

Mar 31, 2005

Antarctic Glaciers Melting Rapidly

A new study of glaciers in a portion of the Antarctic finds 84 percent of them have retreated over the past 50 years in response to a warmer climate. The work was based on 2,000 aerial photos, some taken in the 1940s, and satellite images. The climate in the region...

Mar 31, 2005

Crumbled Tombstones Lead to New View of 1906 Earthquake

The great San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was the deadliest in U.S. history. A new map of the event, based in part on crumbled tombstones, shows in detail the extent of ground rumbling and provides lessons for future events. On the morning of April 18, 1906, an earthquake of approximate...

Mar 31, 2005

Warning: Dangerous U.S. Volcanoes Not Properly Monitored

Dangerous volcanoes in six states are not adequately monitored, U.S. Geological Survey officials said Friday. The agency called for a new nationwide warning system. Geologists conducted a new survey of the 169 known U.S. volcanoes and ranked them according to their threat to human life, property and aviation safety. Alaska,...

Feb 28, 2005

Rumbling Alaskan Volcano Prompts Warning

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- Volcanic rumblings at Mount Spurr are creating hazardous conditions for extreme skiers, snowboarders and pilots landing in the area, the Alaska Volcano Observatory said Friday. Possible dangers include unstable snow and ice, higher concentrations of potentially lethal gases and acidic water that could be strong enough...

Feb 28, 2005

Earth's Lightning Zaps Space, Too

Updated 6:00 p.m. ET Lightning not only zaps the Earth, but it affects our local space environment with flashes from both ends of the electromagnetic spectrum - radio waves and gamma rays, new research shows. We see lightning in the visible, but that's not the only frequency that is emitted...

Feb 28, 2005

Weather So Perfect It's Strange

With extreme weather and a shifty climate constantly in the news, a little moderation might seem strange. Take last year's weather in the Midwest: It was so perfect, it was unlike anything seen in more than a century. Goldilocks weather conditions -- not too cloudy, not too hot, just enough...

Feb 28, 2005

Silver Contaminates 'Pristine' North Pacific

A survey announced today found the highest levels of silver contamination ever observed in the ocean. The high concentrations are in the North Pacific, a region thought to be relatively pristine, scientists said. The extent of contamination -- 50 times higher than the natural level of silver that should be...

Feb 28, 2005

No Stopping it Now: Seas to Rise 4 Inches or More this Century

Even if all industrial pollution and auto emissions suddenly ceased today, Earth's climate will warm at least 1 degree by the year 2100 and seas will rise 4 inches (11 centimeters), according to a new study. The warming is likely to continue through 2400, another study forecasts. The worst-case scenario...

Feb 28, 2005

World's Largest Floating Object Free Again

An iceberg the size of Luxembourg is adrift again after running aground two months ago, when it blocked sea ice in Antarctica and threatened wildlife. In January the giant frozen block was on a collision course with the Drygalski ice tongue in McMurdo Sound on the Ross Sea. But it...