Planet Earth
All stories having to do with the Earth as a planet, including geology, atmospheric science, and oceanography
Mar 12, 2011
"This video roundup shows the science behind what happened today in Japan."
Mar 12, 2011
"The first wave of a tsunami is usually the most destructive, scientists say."
Mar 12, 2011
"Now, scientists in the Pacific Northwest, whose Cascadia fault holds eerie similarities to the one that triggered today's quake in Japan, say the disaster may force them to reexamine their own earthquake preparedness."
Mar 12, 2011
"The massive magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck off the east coast Japan's main island on March 11, 2011 set in motion a fierce tsunami that may have claimed thousands of lives, and sent tsunami warnings all across the Pacific basin, thousands of kilometers away from the quake's epicenter. How do earthquakes trigger such enormous tsunami events, and how can scientists predict where these massive waves might travel?"
Mar 6, 2011
"Until now it was thought that once a volcano's magma chamber had cooled down it remained dormant for centuries before it could be remobilized by fresh magma. A theoretical model was tested on two major eruptions and completely overturned this hypothesis: the reawakening of a chamber could take place in just a few months."
Feb 25, 2011
"Last month, NASA scientists got a rare chance to study 'thundersnow' first-hand when a freak winter storm rolled right over their research center."
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Feb 22, 2011
"Researchers studying the origin of Earth's first breathable atmosphere have zeroed in on the major role played by some very unassuming creatures: plankton."
Feb 12, 2011
"A Russian team searching for signs of life beneath a 14 million-year-old frozen Antarctic lake has had to halt drilling just a few meters from water, potentially damaging 20 years of work in the process."
Feb 10, 2011
"Mysterious "night shining" or noctilucent clouds are beautiful to behold, and are usually seen during the summertime, appearing at sunset. They are thin, wavy ice clouds that form at very high altitudes and reflect sunlight long after the Sun has dropped below the horizon. Scientists don't know exactly why they form, but continue to observe them -- both from Earth and from space. These images were taken by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite."
