• Active volcanoes in the world: October 29 – November 4, 2014

    New activity/unrest was observed at 4 volcanoes from October 29 – November 4, 2014. Ongoing activity was reported for 10 volcanoes.New activity/unrest: Kilauea, Hawaiian Islands (USA) | Popocatepetl, Mexico | Sinabung, Indonesia | Turrialba, Costa RicaOngoing activity:

  • Night sky guide for November 2014

    It doesn't quite fit in a night sky guide, but this month might also be called "Rosetta's" month. After years of traveling through the solar system and finally reaching comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in August 2014, ESA will attempt humanity&#39

  • Scientists warn: Colossal volcanic eruption could destroy Japan

    According to a new study by Kobe University earth scientists, Japan could be nearly destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption over the next century. The experts said they analyzed the scale and frequency of volcanic eruptions in the archipelago nation over the past 120

  • World is losing 2 000 hectares of farm soil daily to salt damage

    Salt-spoiled soils worldwide: 20% of all irrigated lands — an area equal to size of France. Extensive costs include $27 billion+ in lost crop value/year. UNU study identifies ways to reverse damage, says every hectare needed to feed world’s fast-growing popu

  • Impossible “neutron star” shatters theory

    What is a neutron star? Astronomers tell us that these tiny yet massively dense objects form by gravitational collapse from the remnants of a massive star that has exploded. The theoretical neutron star was invented to try to explain highly intense bursts of energy from

  • Partial solar eclipse on October 23, 2014

    The final eclipse event of 2014 occurs at the Moon's ascending node in southern Virgo on Thursday, October 23, 2014. This will be a partial solar eclipse almost exclusively visible from Canada and the USA. Except for the far northeast, a sunset eclipse will be visib

  • Observing Comet Siding Spring flyby Mars – Sunday, October 19, 2014

    Comet Siding Spring will make its historic approach to Mars around 18:27 UTC on Sunday, October 19, 2014, and pass within 139 500 km (88 000 miles) away from planet's surface. That is less than half the distance between Earth and its moon and less than one-tenth

  • Hydraulic fracturing linked to 400 earthquakes in Ohio, study

    Hydraulic fracturing triggered a series of small earthquakes in 2013 on a previously unmapped fault in Harrison County, Ohio, according to a study published in the journal Seismological Research Letters (SRL) on October 14, 2014. Nearly 400 small earthquakes occurred be