The Icelandic Volcano: A Mere Inconvenience in Historical Terms

Volcanoes erupt every week around the world (just check out the weekly reports from Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program and you'll see what I mean), but most of them don't cause problems. Those that do, including the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull that shut down European airspace for days, a...
April 20, 2010 | By Sarah Zielinski

Chilean Earthquake Moved City Ten Feet

The February 27 magnitude-8.8 earthquake in Chile moved the city of Concepción, located 65 miles south of the epicenter, at least 10 feet to the west, according to a new analysis.Just think about it: There was enough power in that earthquake to move an entire city—people, buildings and all the land...
March 09, 2010 | By Sarah Zielinski

No Strangelove Ocean

An important finding was reported last week in the same issue of Science as the new studies of Ardipithecus, and unfortunately, overshadowed by the news of the 4-million-year-old hominid.  This finding may turn out to be even more important because it relates not to the evolution of a single specie...
October 05, 2009 | By Greg Laden

Picture of the Week—Indonesian Mud Flow

On May 29, 2006, hot mud began to erupt within the city of Sidoarjo, in eastern Java, Indonesia. The mud volcano (also known as the Lapindo mud flow, or Lusi) hasn't stopped since then, spewing thousands of cubic feet of material every day. Nearly 2,000 acres of land have been covered with mud, bur...
August 28, 2009 | By Sarah Zielinski

The End of the World as We Know It

Yes, I'm being a bit melodramatic in the headline, but every time that I read about the bad things that are predicted to happen—or already are happening—due to climate change, I worry. (And if you're about to leave a comment saying that climate change isn't real, please read this post about weather...
August 27, 2009 | By Sarah Zielinski

Death from the Skies!

How will the world end? When Hollywood answers that question, the result is often terrifying but completely unrealistic. But the realms of reality can be even scarier than fiction, as astronomer Phil Plait deftly illustrates in Death from the Skies!, which comes out in paperback this week.Each chap...
August 24, 2009 | By Sarah Zielinski

Typhoon Morakot Reminds Us to Prepare for Hurricanes

The full impact of Typhoon Morakot, which struck Taiwan, China and the Philippines earlier this week, may not be known for days or weeks, but hundreds are missing and dozens are already confirmed dead. Morakot was only a Category 2 storm, far less powerful than storms like Katrina or Andrew that we...
August 12, 2009 | By Sarah Zielinski

Follow the Tornado Chasers Online

Yesterday, the Verification Of Rotation in Tornadoes EXperiment 2 (VORTEX2) got underway—it’s the largest attempt in history to study the deadly storms, involving more than 50 scientists and 40 research vehicles. VORTEX1 in 1994 and 1995 documented the life cycle of a tornado for the first time (an...
May 11, 2009 | By Sarah Zielinski

Can Wind Power Be Wildlife Friendly

New research aims to stop turbines from killing bats and birds
February 27, 2009 | By Joseph Caputo

Rebuilding Greensburg Green

Everyone assumed this Kansas town was destined to fade away. What would it take to reverse its course?
February 27, 2009 | By Fredric Heeren

Steering Ships Through a Treacherous Waterway

Braving storms with high seas a group of elite ship pilots steers tankers and freighters through the Columbia River
February 2009 | By Matt Jenkins

California Shaking

Between the rampant wildfires and last week’s Great Southern California ShakeOut (an earthquake drill), I’m glad I chose to make my home in Washington, D.C. instead of Los Angeles. Here there are no earthquakes, no fires and only the occasional hurricane.What really got my attention last week, thou...
November 18, 2008 | By Sarah Zielinski

Earthquake!

Span our interactive globe and learn about seismic hazards and earthquake research
January 28, 2008 | By Mohi Kumar

Grace Under Fire

As San Francisco burned, 100 years ago this month, a hardy band of men worked feverishly to save the city's mint—and with it, the U.S. economy
April 2006 | By Michael Castleman

After the Deluge

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, a writer looks back at the repercussions of another great disaster—, the Mississippi flood of 1927
November 2005 | By John M. Barry

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