A new study has identified the first known permanent set of asteroids originating from outside our solar system. These are believed to have been captured from other stars billions of years ago, orbiting the Sun in disguise ever since. The findings came more than two…
In a new study, physicists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison help explain why the solar wind's temperature becomes 10 times larger than expected when it reaches the Earth. Previously, researchers thought the solar wind has to cool down very rapidly as it…
Marine scientists at the University of South Flordia (USF) have concluded the first Gulf of Mexico-wide survey of oil pollution 10 years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster– the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. On April 20, 2010,…
Intense rains from April 20 to 21, 2020, triggered widespread flash flooding across the city of Djibouti and its suburb of Balbala, causing eight fatalities and affecting approximately 110 000 people. The city received 80 mm (3 inches) of rain in a few hours– more…
Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds and large hail, up to 5 cm (2 inches) in diameter, lashed several villages in the district of Kiphire in Nagaland, northeast India, on April 21, 2020, damaging or destroying more than 500 homes. Among the affected villages…
Heavy rains and strong winds affecting Luanda, Angola from April 18 to 20, 2020, caused flooding and destruction across the capital, leaving at least 11 people dead, 13 others missing and 113 families homeless. The Cambaba River broke its banks, sending floodwater…
The government of Yemen has declared the port city of Aden a disaster area on April 22, 2020, following devastating flash floods caused by up to 125 mm (5 inches) of rain in just 24 hours. On average, the city receives just about 5 mm (0.19 inches) of rain in April…
The National Weather Service (NWS) has rated the tornado that struck Mississippi over the weekend as EF-4. This is the third violent tornado in the area within just a week, and the fourth EF-4 tornado in 2020, making this year one with the most EF-4 tornadoes since…
A severe drought in Chile's central region is entering its 10th year, setting a record for the country's longest dry-spell ever. Records since 1915, when the nation started data-keeping, showed that no droughts have lasted longer and that the previous…
Heavy rains from April 19 to 20, 2020 triggered dangerous flash flooding and landslides in New Caledonia. The Hienghene commune in the North Province recorded almost 200 mm (7.9 inches) of rain in just six hours– more than the country's average rain for the…
