Japan has more measurable earthquakes than any other country and has over 100 active volcanoes. These both result from Japan being wedged among four major tectonic plates. The tectonics are complicated, but in this animation, IRIS attempted to look at the basic…
The International Meteor Organization (IMO) has just added a new feature to their online meteor shower calendar – a 3D animated view of the meteoroid streams the Earth will encounter all along its journey around the Sun. The model was created by Ian Webster, and…
The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensor is one of five sensors on board NASA's Terra satellite. ASTER data and imagery are crucial tools for monitoring volcanoes for any clues of imminent eruptions, for studying…
A team of scientists from the University of Washington (UW) have devised a new mathematical model for the purpose of explaining and forecasting the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), a huge thunderstorm cluster originating in the waters of tropical Indian and Pacific…
Today marks the 20th anniversary of NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Originally planned for two-year mission, the project has now almost gone strong for two full solar-cycles, making the project longest Sun watching satellite to this day. When…
The weather might seem like it creates weeks of dreary, grey drizzle. But it can also put on a truly sensational – and, often, deadly – show. But what explains these explosive events? The Earth’s atmosphere is driven by heating from the Sun….
The connection between the Sun and the Earth is a complex one, describing a relationship between us and our star that is both life-sustaining as well as life-threatening. This relationship is colloquially known as space weather. Aerospace engineer Ryan McGranaghan takes
Over the past 24 hours, the Sydney, Central Coast, and Hunter regions of New South Wales have experienced very heavy rain, gale-force winds with gusts over 100 km per hour, and waves of more than 10 m in height.For Sydney it was the wettest single day since February 200
In the footsteps of Mircea Eliade, mythologists and anthropologists tend to think of the axis mundi or ‘world axis’ as a straight object running through the cosmos vertically. While this is, of course, correct for the astronomical axis of the earth, the &lsq
Ross Stein (PhD, 1980, Geology), Geophysicist at the USGS gave this interesting presentation a couple of days ago at the Stanford University. He explains the fundamentals of earthquake science and takes listeners to one of its frontiers.His research focuses on
