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UCLA scientists explain the formation of unusual ring of radiation in space

By Guest PostSeptember 29, 2013Scienceadam kellerman, alexander drozdov, dmitriy subbotin, earth, explain, formation, hazardous, high energy electrons, highly charged particles, jack eddy fellowship, ksenia orlova, kyung chan kim, MIT, model, NASA, plasma waves, President Obama, radiation belts, ring of radiation, russia, simulation, skolkovo institute, Space, third radiation ring, ucla scientists, ultra relativistic electrons, unusual, van allen, velocity, yuri shprits

Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958, space scientists have believed these belts encircling the Earth consist of two doughnut-shaped rings of highly charged particles — an inner ring of high-energy electrons and energetic positive ions and an outer ring of high-energy electrons.

In February of this year, a team of scientists reported the surprising discovery of a previously unknown third radiation ring — a narrow one that briefly appeared between the inner and outer rings in September 2012 and persisted for a month. (more…)

Protecting 17 Percent of Earth’s Land May Preserve 67 Percent of Its Plant Species

By Guest PostSeptember 12, 2013Natureafrica, asia, biological diversity, central america, computer algorithms, duke university, earth, ecuador, England, kew, lucas n joppa, Madagascar, microsoft research, new guinea, north Carolina, northern andes, piero visconti, plant species, protecting key regions, royal botanic gardens, spatial database, state university, stuart l pimm, the caribbean

Protecting key regions that comprise just 17 percent of Earth’s land may help preserve more than two-thirds of its plant species, according to a new study by an international team of scientists, including a biologist from North Carolina State University.

The researchers from Duke University, NC State and Microsoft Research used computer algorithms to identify the smallest set of regions worldwide that could contain the largest numbers of plant species. They published their findings in the journal Science. (more…)

Littlest Continent Had Biggest Role in Sea Level Drop

By Guest PostAugust 22, 2013Environmentargo global array, atmospheric patterns, australia, climate experiment, earth, german aerospace center, grace, gravity recovery, john fasullo, la niña, littlest continent, NASA, ncar, poseidon, satellite altimeters, sea level drop, smallest continent, spacecraft, topex

A unique and complex set of circumstances came together over Australia from 2010 to 2011 to cause Earth’s smallest continent to be the biggest contributor to the observed drop in global sea level rise during that time, finds a new study co-authored and co-funded by NASA.

In 2011, scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the University of Colorado at Boulder reported that between early 2010 and summer 2011, global sea level fell sharply, by about a quarter of an inch, or half a centimeter. Using data from the NASA/German Aerospace Center’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) spacecraft, they showed that the drop was caused by the very strong La Nina that began in late 2010. That La Nina changed rainfall patterns all over our planet, moving huge amounts of Earth’s water from the ocean to the continents. The phenomenon was short-lived, however. (more…)

Scientists want a detailed picture of Mount St. Helens’ plumbing

By Guest PostAugust 19, 2013Environmentactive volcano, advance warning systems, cascade range, columbia river, detailed picture, earth, earth scientists, electromagnetic field, fluctuation, kenneth creager, magnetic signals, mount adams, mount rainier, mount st helens, oregon state university, plumbing, seismic monitoring, small earthquakes, southwestern washington, structures beneath surface, university of washington, volcanic magma, volcanic monitoring, volcanoe

Earth scientists are laying plans for a two-year study covering a broad area of southwestern Washington to develop a better understanding of how Mount St. Helens gets its supply of volcanic magma.

“The main goal is to understand the plumbing system of the mountain,” said Kenneth Creager, a University of Washington professor of Earth and space sciences who is leading the study. (more…)

How Did Earth’s Primitive Chemistry Get Kick Started?

By Guest PostAugust 2, 2013Scienceacetate, alkaline hydrothermal fluids, alkaline hydrothermal vents, ancient enzymes, atlantic ocean, bottom of oceans, chemical signature, distribution, earliest oceans, earth, enceladus, evolution, floor, future of life, hypothesis, icy worlds, jupiter, lauren white, laws of thermodynamics, mike russell, moon europa, nano engines, NASA, organic carbon, origin, polymers, primitive chemistry, saturn

How did life on Earth get started? Three new papers co-authored by Mike Russell, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., strengthen the case that Earth’s first life began at alkaline hydrothermal vents at the bottom of oceans. Scientists are interested in understanding early life on Earth because if we ever hope to find life on other worlds — especially icy worlds with subsurface oceans such as Jupiter’s moon Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus — we need to know what chemical signatures to look for.

Two papers published recently in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B provide more detail on the chemical and precursor metabolic reactions that have to take place to pave the pathway for life. Russell and his co-authors describe how the interactions between the earliest oceans and alkaline hydrothermal fluids likely produced acetate (comparable to vinegar). The acetate is a product of methane and hydrogen from the alkaline hydrothermal vents and carbon dioxide dissolved in the surrounding ocean. Once this early chemical pathway was forged, acetate could become the basis of other biological molecules. They also describe how two kinds of “nano-engines” that create organic carbon and polymers — energy currency of the first cells — could have been assembled from inorganic minerals. (more…)

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…)

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