April 20, 2015
A decade of slow slip may have preceded Japan's 2011 earthquake
Everyone notices when a fault ruptures quickly — the ground shakes and shudders, and sometimes, the seas churn. However, tectonic plates can also …
The EARTH archive
May 2015
Explore the archive by subject.
43 articles · Page 2 of 2
April 20, 2015
Yosemite's cliffs in retreat
This past winter, two athletes grabbed the world’s attention as they climbed up the sheer walls of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan. But some …
April 20, 2015
Comet water unlike Earth's
Scientists have long suspected that much of the water that fills our planet’s oceans may have come from asteroids or comets that collided with …
April 20, 2015
Could U.S. phosphate deposits help meet growing rare earth demand?
The modern world runs on rare earth metals — they are essential ingredients in light bulbs, smartphones, wind turbines and military weapons, …
April 20, 2015
Mysterious rapid radio burst captured live
Last year, astronomers received a signal from the depths of the cosmos: a fleeting pulse of intense electromagnetic radiation known as a fast …
April 20, 2015
Earliest primates were tree dwellers
The first primates evolved shortly after the mass extinction of the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. But whether these small mammals lived …
April 16, 2015
Geologic Column: The Rumpelstiltskin Factor
The title above may sound like one of those Robert Ludlum novels that works better as a movie than it does in the author’s long-winded prose. But …
April 16, 2015
Comment: When scientists come under legal attack
A fundamental tenet of science is that the search for knowledge is objective. Unfortunately, this principle has been turned on its head in recent …
April 7, 2015
Bird genomes untangle branches of avian family tree
Birds, the only surviving descendants of dinosaurs, have one of the most fascinating — and perplexing — family trees in the animal kingdom. To …
April 7, 2015
Benchmarks: May 8, 1902: The deadly eruption of Mount Pelée
At the turn of the 20th century, the town of St. Pierre was known as the “Paris of the Caribbean.” Nestled into the northwest coast of the French …
April 7, 2015
Down the Earth With: Clive Oppenheimer
North Korea is perhaps the most isolated country in the world, with a people, culture and landscape largely veiled from outside observation, …
April 7, 2015
Geomedia: Books: Breaking New Ground
Agricultural scientist Lester Brown ponders the global future of agriculture, but his roots as a tomato farmer make him keenly aware of the local …
April 7, 2015
On-site inspections
In the event that the CTBT enters into force, a third element of the CTBTO’s verification regime — in addition to the IMS and IDC — would come …
April 7, 2015
Beyond the bomb: The world's nuclear watchdog expands its science
So much of science these days is about connections and multitasking. And nowhere is this more true perhaps than with the widespread instrument …
April 3, 2015
Getting there and getting around Nepal
Flights: The only international airport in Nepal is Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. There are a handful of other airports …
April 3, 2015
Of temperature and tone: Has climate shaped human languages?
Humans today speak more than 6,500 languages, and thousands more dialects once spoken have gone extinct. Understanding how and why so many …
April 3, 2015
Travels in Geology: A trek through Himalayan geology in Nepal
[Editor’s Note: On April 25, 2015, a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck 80 kilometers northwest of Kathmandu, Nepal, killing and injuring thousands …
April 3, 2015
Fire-driven clouds and swirling winds whipped up record-setting New Mexico blaze
At about 1 p.m. on June 26, 2011, a wind-downed power line sparked a blaze in the Las Conchas area of Santa Fe National Forest. It would become …
April 3, 2015
Ground-shaking research: How humans trigger earthquakes
In the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 6, 2007, six miners were laboring 450 meters underground, excavating coal from the Crandall Canyon Mine in the …