July 10, 2014
Solar wind gives lightning a boost
Solar wind consists of charged particles like electrons and protons emitted continuously by the sun. Especially high-speed solar winds — zipping …
The EARTH archive
August 2014
Explore the archive by subject.
65 articles · Page 3 of 3
July 9, 2014
La Brea climate adaptation as different as cats and dogs
“The most attractive thing about working at the tar pits is the sheer quantity of fossils,” says Robin O’Keefe, an evolutionary biologist at …
July 1, 2014
Getting there and getting around the Causeway Coast
To visit the Causeway Coast, fly into Dublin or Belfast and rent a car or take a bus to Ballycastle, Bushmills or Portstewart. During the summer …
July 1, 2014
The legend of Finn Maccool's Causeway
A long time ago, when giants ruled the Earth, a massive Irishman named Finn MacCool was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant Benandonner. …
July 1, 2014
Between rocks and hard places
If you are interested in exploring Northern Ireland but are unsure about going it alone, the Geological Survey of Northern Ireland offers …
July 1, 2014
Travels in Geology: Basalt cliffs and columns along Nothern Ireland's Causeway Coast Way
Like its neighbor to the south, Northern Ireland is renowned for its green vegetation, but the rocks that underlie this part of the Emerald Isle …
June 30, 2014
Unlocking the Cascadia Subduction Zone's secrets: Peering into recent research and findings
Once overlooked because of its relative inactivity compared to other subduction zones around the world, the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) — and …
June 30, 2014
Crowdfunding spotlight
NAME: Rebecca Fowler & Francesco Fiondella, science writers at Columbia University CROWDFUNDING PLATFORM: Kickstarter FUNDING GOAL/AMOUNT RAISED: …
June 30, 2014
Crowdfunding science: A new piece of the research grant puzzle
As a leading researcher in the field of atmospheric science, University of Washington scientist Dan Jaffe had never had trouble securing funding …
June 16, 2014
Pike's Peak
The 4,300-meter-tall peak that Zebulon Pike first spied in November 1806 was already known to Native Americans, as well as Spanish settlers, who …
June 16, 2014
Benchmarks: July 15, 1806: Zebulon Pike launches Southwest expedition
Of America’s early 19th-century western explorers, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark typically garner the most attention. But there was a third …
June 16, 2014
Down to Earth With: Martin Lockley
Shortly after a young Martin Lockley — a British paleontologist specializing in marine fossils — arrived in Denver in 1980 to begin a new job as …
June 16, 2014
Geomedia: Books: The earth system symphony
The planet is a symphony played by the orchestral sections of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere and biosphere, each of which includes many …
June 9, 2014
Magma mobilizes quickly beneath Mount Hood
The term “magma chamber” might evoke thoughts of a roiling mass beneath a volcano, ready to blow at any moment. But in a recent study in Nature, …
May 16, 2014
Ancient skeleton found in underwater cave reveals DNA of earliest Americans
Between 13,000 and 12,000 years ago, a teenage girl entered a cave, likely searching for water, and fell to her death into a pit, which would …
May 14, 2014
Humans causing California's mountains to grow
Humankind has proven time and again that it can reshape mountains, or even tear them down. Now, it appears, we can make them rise as well. …
April 15, 2014
Scientists look wider and deeper to predict the next El Nino
Whether it be the two monsoons that wiped out Kublai Kahn’s conquest of Japan, or the fog in Long Island that allowed George Washington and his …