The Watchers team and our contributors bring the latest on extreme weather, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, space weather, and all things science. We're all about making sense of the natural world and keeping you informed on what’s happening. Got a tip or a question? Hit us up using the form at newstips!
A new study, published this week in Nature, shows that thunderstorms can also produce radioactivity by triggering nuclear reactions in the atmosphere. This may sound like the plot of a blockbuster science fiction disaster. But in reality, it’s nothing to worry…
Tracking the aerosols carried on the winds let scientists see the currents in our atmosphere. This visualization follows sea salt, dust, and smoke from July 31 to November 1, 2017, to reveal how these particles are transported across the map. The first thing that is…
On the Space News series, a clear picture of cosmic scale phenomena has emerged: networks of filaments pervade space and are closely linked to the formation and evolution of stars and galaxies. The electric universe and plasma cosmology have always predicted that…
On May 29, 2006, mud started erupting from several sites on the Indonesian island of Java. Boiling mud, water, rocks and gas poured from newly-created vents in the ground, burying entire towns and compelling many Indonesians to flee. By September 2006, the largest…
Thousands of families already struggling because of ongoing violence in Pibor are in desperate need of further assistance after severe flooding washed away houses, livestock, and farmland in the Jonglei region of South Sudan. Torrential rain has caused major damage…
The volcanic activity at Ambrym is continuing at the level of minor eruption state and its Volcanic Alert Level remains at Level 3, the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department (VMGD) reported on October 13, 2017. The volcanic activity is highly likely to go…
When charged particles from a solar storm reached Mars this month, they set off an aurora 25 times brighter and surface level radiation readings twice as high as any previous measurements. An unexpectedly strong blast from the Sun hit Mars this month, observed by…
Because sometimes you just need to see it… "On September 27, 2017, a G3 class solar storm sparked beautiful auroras but I was way too far north to get a very good show. Instead, Lady Aurora decided to show her best colors the next night on September 28th,…
The spectacular planetary nebula NGC 7009, or the Saturn Nebula, emerges from the darkness like a series of oddly-shaped bubbles, lit up in glorious pinks and blues. This colorful image was captured by the powerful MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope…
The winter of 2017/18 announced itself in Urals and Siberia, Russia this week with abnormally cold temperatures, between 3 – 10 °C (5.4 – 18 °F) below average. Anomalously cold weather is affecting the Urals and southern Siberia over the past couple of days…
