I’m a science journalist and researcher at The Watchers, contributing to the Epicenter edition, where I cover peer-reviewed scientific research and emerging discoveries across Earth and space sciences. With a background in astronomy and a passion for environmental science, I’ve worked in shark and coral conservation in Fiji, conducting reef and shark-behavior research, contributing to mangrove restoration, and earning PADI Open Water and Coral Reef Certifications. I bring a blend of scientific rigor and storytelling to illuminate the discoveries shaping our planet and beyond.

  • Rare geomagnetic storms expose regional weaknesses in the U.S. power grid

    ByReet Kaur

    A coupled physics-engineering-economic model estimates that a severe geomagnetic storm with a 250-year return period could interrupt electricity for about 5.1 million people and 135 000 businesses across the contiguous United States, producing total economic losses near USD 1.81 billion per day. The significance goes beyond the loss estimate – the framework connects a disturbance in Earth’s magnetic environment to electric fields in the ground, stress on high-voltage transformers, localized power disruption, and wider economic losses in one calculation.

  • Seismic imaging reveals fault-controlled volcanic plumbing beneath Lipari, Italy

    ByReet Kaur

    New seismic images have resolved a previously poorly imaged system of structures extending to about 10 km (6.2 miles) beneath Lipari in Italy’s Aeolian Islands. The deepest reflectors align with the Tindari–Letojanni fault system, while another strong boundary lies beneath the San Calogero hydrothermal field, giving researchers a new view of how the island’s deeper volcanic and hydrothermal architecture may be organized.

  • Major flood threat develops after up to 1 321 mm (52 inches) of rain in Vietnam

    ByReet Kaur

    Vietnam’s National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting raised flood-related natural-disaster risk to Level 2–3 at 15:30 LT on September 16 as rivers in Phú Thọ, Ninh Bình and Thanh Hóa reached or exceeded Alert Level 3. The escalation follows a multi-day rainfall episode that produced 1 321 mm (52.0 inches) of rainfall at Bạch Mã in Huế and flooded 940 homes in Quảng Trị.

  • GNSS measurements reveal a subtle change in Earth’s global figure

    ByReet Kaur

    Global GNSS measurements show that Earth’s solid surface changed systematically between 1997 and 2015, with vertical motion at high and low latitudes producing a measurable shift in its global geometry. Polar uplift increased from about 0.5 mm/yr (0.02 inches/yr) in the late 1990s to nearly 1 mm/yr (0.04 inches/yr) in 2011–2015, according to research published on September 9, 2026.

  • Deep structures beneath Central America match patterns of major earthquakes and volcanism

    ByReet Kaur

    A new 3-D seismic image of the Central American subduction zone shows that changes in the crust and upper mantle closely match the segmented distribution of major megathrust earthquakes and active volcanoes. The finding offers a common structural framework for examining why earthquake rupture and volcanism vary so sharply along the same plate boundary, according to research published in Geophysical Research Letters on September 11, 2026.

  • Deadly Langtang rock-ice avalanche in Nepal followed decades of glacier retreat and exceptional high-altitude heat

    ByReet Kaur

    Glaciers in Nepal’s Langtang Catchment lost about 41.5% of their area from the Little Ice Age to 2023, while warming above 4 000 m (13 120 feet) reached about 0.3°C (0.54°F) per decade from 1964–2023, according to peer-reviewed research (Silwal et al., 2026). Those long-term changes are relevant to high-mountain hazards because glacier retreat, thinning, and fragmentation alter the mechanical and hydrological conditions of steep ice-rock slopes — processes now under examination after the August 26, 2026 Langtang Lirung rock-ice avalanche and flood.

  • Ryugu samples reveal nitrogen compounds concentrated in salts from ancient asteroid brines

    ByReet Kaur

    Samples returned from asteroid Ryugu contain ammonium-bearing clay, C≡N-bearing species and sodium nitrate clustered with sodium-carbonate-rich material. The authors conclude that these nitrogen reservoirs probably became concentrated as the last brines in Ryugu’s parent body disappeared, linking nitrogen storage to the final stages of aqueous alteration and identifying a chemical setting that could have supported prebiotic organic reactions. The study was published in Nature Astronomy on August 27, 2026.

  • 3I/ATLAS chemistry points to formation in unusually cold conditions

    ByReet Kaur

    Two independent chemical tracers now place the formation of 3I/ATLAS under very cold conditions. A new plasma-tail study found an unusually high nitrogen-to-carbon-monoxide ratio relative to Solar System comets, while separate isotope measurements constrain formation of most of the comet’s water ice to ≲30 K.

  • Study links lower solar activity to higher radiation proxy at flight altitudes

    ByReet Kaur

    High-altitude balloon measurements over southern Israel found an inverse association between solar activity and a gamma-equivalent dose-rate proxy at aviation altitudes. The peer-reviewed study, first published online on August 29, 2026, analyzed six balloon launches from October 2014 to August 2016.

  • New study explains extreme runout of the Blatten rock-ice avalanche, Switzerland

    ByReet Kaur

    A reconstruction of the May 28, 2025 Blatten rock-ice avalanche in Switzerland found that numerical models could reproduce both its seismic force history and deposit distribution only when effective friction dropped to exceptionally low values during critical stages of motion. The avalanche mobilized about 9.3 million m³ of material, including approximately 3.0 million m³ of glacier ice, while the best-fitting models required lower-bound effective friction angles of about 2° and 1°.