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Solar tsunami used to measure Sun’s magnetic field

By Guest PostJuly 20, 2013Scienceatmosphere, cmes, coronal mass ejections, david long, earth, eis, explosion, extreme, japanese hinode spacecraft, magnetic field, measure, NASA, satellite, sdo, solar activity, solar dynamics observatory, solar storms, solar tsunami, sun, technological infrastructure, ultraviolet, ultraviolet imaging spectrometer, xray

A solar tsunami observed by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and the Japanese Hinode spacecraft has been used to provide the first accurate estimates of the Sun’s magnetic field.

Solar tsunamis are produced by enormous explosions in the Sun’s atmosphere called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). As the CME travels out into space, the tsunami travels across the Sun at speeds of up to 1000 kilometres per second.

Similar to tsunamis on Earth, the shape of solar tsunamis is changed by the environment through which they move. Just as sound travels faster in water than in air, solar tsunamis have a higher speed in regions of stronger magnetic field. This unique feature allowed the team, led by researchers from UCL’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, to measure the Sun’s magnetic field. The results are outlined in a paper soon to be published in the journal Solar Physics. (more…)

Using earthquake sensors to track endangered whales

By Guest PostJune 19, 2013Natureamplitude, behavior, dax soule, deep ocean environments, earth, earthquake sensor, earthquake sensor data, endangered whales, fin whale surfacing, gps, greenland, greyhounds, juan de fuca, michelle weirathmueller, neptune canada, oceanography, pacific northwest coast, ridge, sea, seafloor geology, seafloor seismic data, seafloor seismometers, seattle area, second largest animal, seismically active zone, seismometer networks, smartphone, swimming behavior, track, university of washington, uw doctoral student, vocalizing whale, washington coast, whale calls, william wilcock

The fin whale is the second-largest animal ever to live on Earth. It is also, paradoxically, one of the least understood. The animal’s huge size and global range make its movements and behavior hard to study.

A carcass that washed up on a Seattle-area beach this spring provided a reminder that sleek fin whales, nicknamed “greyhounds of the sea,” are vulnerable to collision when they strike fast-moving ships. Knowing their swimming behaviors could help vessels avoid the animals. Understanding where and what they eat could also help support the fin whale’s slowly rebounding populations. (more…)

Star with flare

By Guest PostJune 18, 2013Scienceamerican astronomical society, astronomer, behavior of sun, data, earth, habitable planets, john gizis, jupiter, kepler telescope, l dwarf, light years, magnetic fields, NASA, nasa grant, search for, star with flare, university of delaware

NASA telescope provides insights into unusual dwarf star

Astronomer John Gizis of the University of Delaware, working with data obtained by NASA’s Kepler telescope, is studying a highly unusual dwarf star and its powerful flares that may hold clues to the likelihood of life on other planets as well as to the behavior of our sun.

Gizis, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, discovered the star two years ago using a ground-based telescope and now has conducted additional research using Kepler observations over the past two years. (more…)

Moon and Earth have common water source

By Guest PostJune 16, 2013Sciencealberto saal, amounts of deuterium, apollo missions, carnegie institution, common water source, crystal, earth, earth history, erik hauri, extra neutron, hydrogen deuterium ratios, inner solar system, james van orman, lunar rock, malcolm rutherford, moon, multicollector ion microprobe, nasa spacecraft, olivine, volatile elements, Washington

Researchers used a multicollector ion microprobe to study hydrogen-deuterium ratios in lunar rock and on Earth. Their conclusion: The Moon’s water did not come from comets but was already present on Earth 4.5 billion years ago, when a giant collision sent material from Earth to form the Moon.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] —Water inside the Moon’s mantle came from primitive meteorites, new research finds, the same source thought to have supplied most of the water on Earth. The findings raise new questions about the process that formed the Moon. (more…)

Marks on Martian Dunes May Be Tracks of Dry-Ice Sleds

By Guest PostJune 13, 2013Sciencecalifornia, carbon dioxide frost, downhill flow features, dry ice sleds, earth, hirise camera, linear gullies, marks, mars, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian conditions, martian dunes, martian gullies, martian sand dune, martian slope, martian spring, martian winter, mro, NASA, serina diniega, utah

PASADENA, Calif. — NASA research indicates hunks of frozen carbon dioxide — dry ice — may glide down some Martian sand dunes on cushions of gas similar to miniature hovercraft, plowing furrows as they go.

Researchers deduced this process could explain one enigmatic class of gullies seen on Martian sand dunes by examining images from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and performing experiments on sand dunes in Utah and California. (more…)

Scientists Explore Roots of Future Tropical Rainfall

By Guest PostJune 10, 2013Environmentarabian sea, atmosphere, bay of bengal, climate prediction, earth, eastern africa, eastern indian ocean, evidence, future tropical rainfall, geological clues, hadley centre, indian, indo-pacific, indonesia, jessica tierney, last glacial maximum, last ice age, northern australia, numerical models, pacific regions, pedro dinezio, proxies, proxy evidence, rainfall patterns, roots, salinity, saltier waters, southeast asia, sunda shelf, surface waters, tropical climate change, university of hawaii, warm pool, western pacific, wetter

Analysis of the Last Glacial Maximum sheds light on climate models’ ability to simulate tropical climate change

How will rainfall patterns across the tropical Indian and Pacific regions change in a future warming world? Climate models generally suggest that the tropics as a whole will get wetter, but the models don’t always agree on where rainfall patterns will shift in particular regions within the tropics.

A new study, published online May 19 in the journal Nature Geoscience, looks to the past to learn about the future of tropical climate change, and our ability to simulate it with numerical models. (more…)

The New Face of Mining: Women Carving Out a Place in Surging Industry

By Guest PostMay 28, 2013Economy, Generalalabama, Antarctica, assessment, barb filas, barrick in nevada, bree mcmaster, brute force image, Chile, coal mines, earth, Economy, environmental impact, exploration, female engineers, female mine manager, geological engineering, girl scouts, global mining firm, illinois, job, knight piesold, mary poulton, metallurgy, mine sites, mining, new face, rita riggs, ruby barickman, san xavier, skilled workers, society for mining, student mine, underground, us schools, vicki seppala, women, work environment, x chromosomes

The UA department of mining and geological engineering, one of only 14 U.S. schools offering mining engineering degrees and only a handful with its own student mine, is dedicated to helping fill the industry pipeline, and that includes ensuring female engineers continue to gain ground in a surging industry.

They roam the remotest corners of the world, scale the highest mountains and descend deep into the Earth.

They go places few women have ever gone. They are not afraid of getting dirty, or of much else for that matter, certainly not adversity or a good challenge. And they know, better than most, how and when to take a joke. (more…)

Studying meteorites may reveal Mars’ secrets of life

By Guest PostMay 24, 2013Scienceage old question, alterations, Antarctica, billion years ago, data from meteorites, earth, geochemical processes, mars, michael velbel, michigan state university, miller range, mineralogical studies, mystery, nakhlite meteorite, rover data, secrets of life, solar system, studying meteorites

In an effort to determine if conditions were ever right on Mars to sustain life, a team of scientists, including a Michigan State University professor, has examined a meteorite that formed on the red planet more than a billion years ago.

And although this team’s work is not specifically solving the mystery, it is laying the groundwork for future researchers to answer this age-old question. (more…)

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