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!
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has released the most thorough map of the Martian surface to date. The data for the new map was collected by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and
Stanford Earth scientists used newly developed mathematical tools to analyze landscapes formed by water and other processes, and in doing so challenged 50 years of research on landscape evolution. The new techniques allow scientists to better understand the signatures o
El Niño has a significant impact on the world and local economies – and not always for the worst – and countries should plan ahead to mitigate its effects, according to a new Working Paper from the University of Cambridge.The paper, Fair weather or foul: the
A new scientific study has further deepened one of the longstanding mysteries of solar physics. For decades scientists have struggled to explain why the solar wind accelerates as it moves away from the Sun in defiance of gravity.In more recent years, theorists have sugg
Mel Acheson has contributed numerous insights to the Electric Universe movement for more than 15 years, giving readers both a chuckle and something to think about. His editorials were a regular feature in the electronic newsletter Thoth.Mel is now a frequent contributor
Brief pulse detected by Arecibo telescope appears to come from far beyond our galaxy… The discovery of a split-second burst of radio waves by scientists using the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico provides important new evidence of mysterious pulses that app
A significant number of urban water wells in Minnesota — over a third of those studied — contain chemicals from consumer and industrial products, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report.From November 2009 through June 2012, USGS and Minnesota P
NOAA and its research partners predict that western Lake Erie will have a significant bloom of cyanobacteria, a toxic blue-green algae, during the 2014 bloom season in late summer. However, the predicted bloom is expected to be smaller than last year’s intense
As scientists learn more about earthquakes that rupture at fault zones near the planet’s surface — and the mechanisms that trigger them — an even more intriguing earthquake mystery lies deeper in the planet.Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanogr
Venus’ atmosphere rotates up to sixty times faster than its surface, a phenomenon known as superrotation whose origin hast yet to be satisfactorily explained…Venus is a slowly rotating planet since it takes about two hundred and forty three terrestrial days to c
