June 29, 2016
Late Antique Little Ice Age underpinned unrest and upheaval in Europe and Asia
Effects of climate change on society aren’t just a contemporary concern. A new study has found that a cold snap in the sixth and seventh …
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July 22, 2014
Moving cars could help gauge rainfall
Accurate and timely rainfall measurements are crucial for the design of drainage systems, dams and other modern infrastructure. But rain gauges …
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 23, 2014
Travels in Geology: Peru's petrified forest: The struggle to study and preserve one of the world's most remarkable fossil sites
Tucked high in the Andes Mountains of northern Peru is a remarkable fossil locality: a 39-million-year-old petrified forest preserved in nearly …
June 23, 2014
Creationism comes to the county fair
County fairs are opportunities to bring in those handsome Holsteins competing for Best Bessie, to sample foods that don’t normally belong on …
May 15, 2014
Geomedia: Books: Science in fiction
As a science magazine, EARTH usually reviews nonfiction. This month, however, we are bringing you reviews of three recent novels with scientific …
May 15, 2014
Benchmarks: June 16, 1963 & June 18, 1983: Valentina Tereshkova and Sally Ride become first and third women in space
On June 16, 1963, during the height of the Cold War, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to fly in space. It would be 19 years before …
May 15, 2014
Dueling dinosaurs hit the auction block
In 2006, fossil collector Clayton Phipps (a Montana rancher known as the “Dinosaur Cowboy”) and his crew discovered a rare fossil on private land …
May 13, 2014
The history, science and poetry of New England's stone walls
In 2007, I returned to eastern Connecticut, where I grew up. Driving north on Interstate 395 past towns like Norwich and Griswold, I was struck …
April 14, 2014
Precise to a fault: How GPS revolutionized seismic research
In the late 1980s, Ken Hudnut, a Columbia University graduate student studying plate tectonics in Southern California, began experimenting with a …
April 11, 2014
Faking quakes at full scale: Giant shake tables simulate earthquakes to make buildings safer
On a muggy day in mid-July 2009, a lone seven-story condominium complex northwest of Kobe, Japan, was violently shaken by seismic forces similar …
February 20, 2014
GPS measurements of ground inflation help forecast ash plumes
When Grimsvötn Volcano in Iceland erupted in May 2011, northern European airspace was closed for seven days and about 900 passenger flights were …
February 20, 2014
Seattle's landslide risk greater than thought
Landslides have been part of Seattle’s history “from a time to which the memory of man runneth not back,” wrote famed city engineer Reginald …
February 20, 2014
From field scientist to filmmaker: Doug Prose
Ask Doug Prose what his favorite part of producing geologically themed documentaries is and he’ll tell you it’s filming nature and science in the …
February 20, 2014
Brooks Ellwood and the unusual applications of magnetism
The call came out of the blue. Geophysicist Brooks Ellwood was sitting in his office in the geology department at the University of Texas at …
February 20, 2014
Commissioned artwork
In 2013, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI, which publishes EARTH) commissioned glass artist Adam Frus to create a sculpture to celebrate …
February 20, 2014
Geoscience inspires glass artist Adam Frus
Artwork was a staple in Adam Frus’ boyhood home in Jacksonville, Fla. “Growing up, my parents took me to a lot of art shows, which taught me the …
February 18, 2014
Be aware and prepare
Hiking the full 340-kilometer length of the John Muir Trail (JMT) isn’t a beginner backpacking trip. Make sure you enjoy slowly plodding up …
February 18, 2014
Travels in Geology: Walking toward Whitney: A journey through the Sierra High Country along the John Muir Trail
From atop Mount Whitney — the tallest peak in the lower 48 states — ridge upon ridge of Central California’s Sierra Nevada range stretches out …
January 13, 2014
Harvesting fog could bring water to millions
In northern Chile, as in many other parts of the world, freshwater is a limited commodity, but heavy fogs are a regular occurrence. For at least …
December 12, 2013
Climate, terroir, and wine: What matters most in producing a great wine?
Weather and climate have played decisive roles throughout human existence — where and how cultures developed, where they migrated and even how …
December 10, 2013
Hazards abroad: Sent home
On May 19, 2012, seismologist Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado at Boulder landed at the airport in Delhi, India, on his way to Bhutan. …
December 10, 2013
Be prepared: Navigating the risks of hazards research
Just over a year ago, in a cavernous room of the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif., hundreds of geophysicists, seismologists, …