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!
Earth is under the influence of a recurrent, polar-connected coronal hole which has sparked G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storming today. Unsettled to active conditions, with G1 storming likely, are expected to continue through March 2. Geomagnetic K-index of 5 (G1 – Minor…
SpaceX will fly two private citizens on a trip around the Moon in the second quarter of 2018 using the Crew Dragon spacecraft, the company announced. The privately held company has been approached to fly two private citizens on a trip around the Moon late next year…
A new study found that human-ignited wildfires in the United States accounted for 84% of all wildfires, tripling the length of the average fire season and accounting for nearly half of the total acreage burned. In total, humans have ignited over 840 000 blazes in…
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has begun a second campaign of investigating active sand dunes on the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp, inside the 160 km (100 miles) wide Gale Crater. The rover also has been observing whirlwinds carrying dust and checking how far…
Huge mudslides from November’s earthquakes in New Zealand have wiped out all organisms living in the seabed of the Kaikōura Canyon, NIWA reports. New bathymetric data shows that the earthquake resulted in a huge slipping event. Almost every part of the upper…
A team of researchers from the Universities of Sussex and Bristol has invented a super-material that bends, shapes and focuses sound waves that pass through it. The creation pushes the boundaries of metamaterials – a new class of finely-engineered surfaces…
Etna's activity is increasing strongly, and lava is overflowing from the Southeast Crater (SEC) toward south-southwest, Boris Behncke of the INGV's Etna Observatory reports. The activity has increased sharply on February 27, 2017, following mild Strombolian…
NASA's new geostationary satellite GOES-16 (previously known as GOES-R) has successfully captured first images using its Solar Ultraviolet Imager or SUVI instrument. SUVI replaces GOES Solar X-ray Imager (SXI) instrument in previous GOES satellites and…
Heavy, unseasonable rains have caused major floods and mudslides in Chile, leaving at least 3 people dead and 19 missing on February 25 and 26, 2017. In the area of country's capital, Santiago, mudslides have cut off water to around 1.2 million homes. Thousands…
A long-lasting fireball was captured via Sandia all-sky camera in Hawley, Texas at 02:55 UTC on February 27, 2017 (20:55 CST, February 26). The event was associated with a sonic boom, suggesting the object got relatively close to the ground. The American Meteor…
