New study analyses volcanic fatalities in more detail than ever before

New study analyses volcanic fatalities in more detail than ever before

Building on existing information and databases relating to volcanic fatalities, scientists from the University of Bristol have, for the first time, been able to classify victims by activity or occupation and look at the distance of their death from the volcano. It…

The missing mass — what is causing a geoid low in the Indian Ocean?

The missing mass — what is causing a geoid low in the Indian Ocean?

The Earth’s interior is still a mystery to us. While we have sent missions to probe the outer reaches of our solar system, the deepest boreholes on Earth go down to only a few kilometers. The only way to learn what’s going on deep inside our planet, in…

Winter cold extremes linked to high-altitude polar vortex weakening

Winter cold extremes linked to high-altitude polar vortex weakening

Over the last decades, the stratospheric polar vortex has shifted towards more frequent weak states which can explain Eurasian cooling trends in boreal winter in the era of Arctic amplification. When the strong winds that circle the Arctic slacken, cold polar air…

Giant tsunami reshaped California coastline

Giant tsunami reshaped California coastline

New evidence suggests a gigantic tsunami hit the California coast 900 years ago, removing three to five times more sand than any El Niño storm in history. Since large tsunamis hit the northwestern US every 300 to 500 years and the last occurred in January…

12 000 years ago, Florida hurricanes heated up despite chilly seas

12 000 years ago, Florida hurricanes heated up despite chilly seas

According to new research by Michael Toomey and his colleagues from The Geological Society of America's Journal Geology, Category 5 hurricanes may have slammed Florida repeatedly during the chilly Younger Dryas, 12 000 years ago, as hurricane-suppressing effects…

Study confirms large earthquakes along Olympic Mountain faults

Study confirms large earthquakes along Olympic Mountain faults

A comprehensive study of faults along the north side of the Olympic Mountains of Washington State emphasizes the substantial seismic hazard to the northern Puget Lowland region. The study examined the Lake Creek-Boundary Creek and Sadie Creek faults along the north…

Astronomers discover unusual spindle-like galaxies

Astronomers discover unusual spindle-like galaxies

Using the CALIFA survey, astronomer Athanasia Tsatsi (Max Planck Institute for Astronomy) and her colleagues studied the spindle-like galaxies and found that these slender galaxies, which rotate along their longest axis, are much more common than previously thought….