Things we don not know for sure – how it’s happening, how was created, how it is. Questions that people do not know the answer!
The same technology used to detect weather systems and airborne phenomena is a major source of ornithological information, particularly during spring and fall bird migrations. Radars (Radio Detection and Ranging) are useful in studying the flight patterns, locations and densities of migratory birds — information that is otherwise difficult to observe, since many birds migrate …
Ronald Blakey at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Blakey, a geologist, creates paleogeographic maps of Earth’s ancient landscapes. Ronald Blakey: I’m actually an artist. . . and so I understand colors and how colors blend and how you can overlay serveral colors or blend several colors together to get an effect and so forth. Now …
Stunning paleogeographic maps of Earth’s ancient landscapes Read More »
How old is the Earth? Scientists believe that the Earth is about four and a half billion years old. That’s pretty old — but not as old as the rest of the universe. Back in 1862, Lord Kelvin calculated how long Earth might have taken to cool from its original molten state. He concluded that …
How old is the Earth in contrast to the rest of the universe? Read More »
For decades, scientists assumed that Antarctica‘s Lake Vida was entirely frozen — and devoid of life. But Peter Doran suspected there might be liquid water — and even life — at the bottom of the lake. Peter Doran is an Earth scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 1996, he sampled the thick …
Astronauts’ bones become thinner the longer they stay in space. On a long mission to the planet Mars, a broken bone would be a major problem. Astronauts on the International Space Station tend to lose about two percent of their body’s bone mass for each month they spend in space. That’s because bone is living …
We have plenty of trouble predicting weather here on Earth. What about predicting weather in the vast space between our planet and the sun? Geomagnetic storms in Earth’s atmosphere create enchanting displays of the northern and southern lights. But they can also damage satellites and spacecraft, disrupt communications systems, cause power outages and, potentially, injure astronauts. …
Are three hearts better than one? And is it possible to sleep underwater? The answer to both questions is yes — if you’re an octopus. Octopuses need all three hearts to circulate blood through their bodies. Two of the hearts are called branchial hearts. They sit right behind the eyes and are connected to an …
Hundreds of millions of years ago, a massive flood ravaged what is now Arizona. Trees were sent crashing from stream banks. When groundwater passes through buried wood, it deposits minerals, usually silica, inside the tiny cell spaces. Over millions of years, these deposits replace almost all of the original organic material, turning the wood into …
Deep inside the planet Jupiter, pressures reach millions of times those on Earth’s surface. There, the element hydrogen undergoes a radical transformation. I have read several science articles about there being metallic hydrogen at Jupiter’s core. If we could create this sort of metal here on Earth, what could it be used for? The element …
