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May 31, 2015

Astronaut Spies Menacing Tropical Storm Bill from Space

Tropical Storm Bill lurks menacingly near the coast of Texas in a photo taken from space yesterday (June 15). The image was captured from the International Space Station, and shows the storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, just off the coast of the Lone Star State. The storm made...

May 31, 2015

Giant 'Earth Stethoscope' Spies on Planet's Wonky Behavior

The planet is crawling with tiny spies: Hidden undersea microphones, instrument-clad satellites and infrared cameras are listening, watching and smelling all the action on planet Earth, from a migrating whale to a meteor crash. The international system, called the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), has been spying on Earth for...

May 31, 2015

Flowering Beauty: Photos of Desert Ironwood Trees

The desert ironwood tree, Olneya tesota, can be found growing only in the Sonoran Desert of Mexico, California and Arizona. Check out these spectacular photos of ironwoods. A desert tree Desert ironwoods grow along the dry washes of the desert region, below 2, 500 feet (762 meters) in elevation. The...

May 31, 2015

Real Climate Change as World Does More Than 'Show Up' (Op-Ed)

Lynn Scarlett, managing director of public policy at The Nature Conservancy, contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Actor and comedian Woody Allen is often quoted as saying 80 percent of life is showing up. During the past 20 years, the United Nation's (UN) annual climate...

Apr 30, 2015

Amazing Waves Discovered in Deep-Ocean Trench

Surf's up more than 2 miles under the sea, where ice-cold waves as tall as skyscrapers tumble over an underwater waterfall. Yet the ocean surface is calm, and a tropical sun bakes scientists aboard a research ship moored between South America and Africa just south of the equator. Without the...

Mar 31, 2015

Tornado Alert in Central US: The Science of Severe Storms

This story was updated on April 9 at 9:48 a.m. ET. A wide swath of the central United States is at risk of thunderstorms and possible tornadoes over the next couple of days, according to the National Weather Service. There is severe weather forecasted today (April 8) in two regions...

Mar 31, 2015

In Photos: Beautiful Cactus Flowers Signal Spring Is Here

Most scientists today agree that North America has four distinct desert regions: the Great Basin, the Mojave, the Sonoran and the Chihuahuan. The subjective delineation of one from another is based primarily upon the different species of plants that can be found growing in each region. When the cacti found...

Mar 31, 2015

Bigger Earthquake Coming on Nepal's Terrifying Faults

Nepal faces larger and more deadly earthquakes, even after the magnitude-7.8 temblor that killed more than 4,000 people on Saturday (April 25). Earthquake experts say Saturday's Nepal earthquake did not release all of the pent-up seismic pressure in the region near Kathmandu. According to GPS monitoring and geologic studies, some...

Jan 31, 2015

Sky River to Bust Northern California Drought This Week

California forecasters are prepping the state's northern cities for a switch from extreme drought to drenching rain and damaging winds starting tomorrow (Feb. 5). An incoming atmospheric river could deliver at least 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain in coastal and inland mountains, and 5 inches (13 cm) in valley...

Jan 31, 2015

New Land Off Louisiana Seen from Space

New land is blossoming at the mouths of the Atchafalaya River and the Wax Lake Outlet in Louisiana, bucking the trend of lost ground in this Gulf state. Recent satellite imagery shows two new deltas protruding into the Gulf of Mexico, one fed by the Atchafalaya and one from the...

Jan 31, 2015

Can Civilization Continue? An Earth System Scientist Explains

This article was originally published on The Conversation. The publication contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. The Conversation organised a public question-and-answer session on Reddit in which James Dyke, a lecturer in Complex System Simulation, discussed planetary boundaries and whether global industrialised civilisation is headed...

Dec 31, 2014

Lake Erie Dead Zone: Don't Blame the Slime!

Lake Erie's ecological calamities occur under different conditions, a new study finds. The lake's central dead zones are most strongly linked to drought years, when rivers that bring water into the lake run lower, researchers reported today (Jan. 6) in the journal Environmental Science & Toxicology. Conversely, the toxic algae...

Dec 31, 2014

Understanding Earth by Eavesdropping on Urban Noise

Researchers are tuning in to urban seismic noise, the man-made signals from human activity, to view geologic structures and track the rhythms of cities. Until now, scientists often tossed away data containing the pesky vibrations created as humans scurry from one place to another. Urban seismic noise often plagues scientists...

Dec 31, 2014

Aww! Primordial Reptile Fossils Show Mother Caring for Babies

The fossilized remains of a small aquatic reptile surrounded by six babies suggest that the extinct animal was caring for the little ones when they died, a new study finds. The reptile is an extinct species called the philydrosaurus, and likely lived during the Early Cretaceous, a time period that...

Dec 31, 2014

New Lakes Discovered Under Greenland's Ice Hint at Warming

The discovery of two large lakes hidden beneath Greenland's ice suggests that climate change now cuts all the way to the bottom of the ice sheet, according to two new studies. The lakes, on opposite coasts, were only spotted because meltwater from Greenland's surface triggered gushing floods in the fall...