Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Jan 31, 2005

Tsunami Earthquake Three Times Larger Than First Thought

A new analysis of the December earthquake that caused disastrous tsunami waves to strike Asia and Africa finds it was three times more powerful than earlier measurements suggested. This would make it the second largest earthquake ever instrumentally recorded. Seismologists Seth Stein and Emile Okal from Northwestern University said Tuesday...

Jan 31, 2005

Central U.S. Warned of Larger Earthquakes to Come

A moderate earthquake that rattled parts of Arkansas and Tennessee Thursday should serve as a wake-up call to the central United States about the potential for much stronger events, experts said. The temblor, preliminarily put at magnitude 4.1, shook eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee early in the morning. It was...

Jan 31, 2005

Quake Death Toll in 2004 Could Be Worst Since 1556

A final analysis of the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami is likely to create a death toll in 2004 greater than any caused by ground shaking in more than four centuries. While the total deaths from the Dec. 26, 2004 disaster remains uncertain, it stands at 275,950, according to a...

Jan 31, 2005

Northwest Not Ready for Real Drought, Study Suggests

Historical droughts in the Columbia River Basin were more severe than anything in recent memory, including the drought of 1992-93, scientists said Monday. A study of tree rings found four droughts between 1750 and 1950 that were much more severe than anything in recent memory because they persisted for years....

Jan 31, 2005

Caution: Global Warming May be Hazardous to Your Health

If Earth's climate warms steadily in coming decades, as many scientists predict, heavy smog and extreme weather events could increase health risks in the United States and around the world, scientists said this weekend. Warmer temperatures could bring increased rainfall to some regions, computer models suggest, as well as heat...

Jan 31, 2005

Creatures Frozen for 32,000 Years Still Alive

A new type of organism discovered in an Arctic tunnel came to life in the lab after being frozen for 32,000 years. The deep-freeze bacteria could point to new methods of cryogenics, and they are the sort of biology scientists say might exist on Mars and other planets and moons....

Jan 31, 2005

A New Spin on Earth's Rotation

We all know that money makes the world go round, but what causes it to change speed ever so slightly? The Earth is known to constantly slow down and speed up, which imperceptibly alters the length of our days. We are taught that the day is 24 hours, or 86,400...

Dec 31, 2004

Tsunami-Generating Earthquake Near U.S. Possibly Imminent

There are only two places in the United States where colliding tectonic plates could cause a major tsunami, and new studies show a new earthquake in at least one of these locations could be imminent. The Cascadia subduction zone, a 680-mile fault that runs 50 miles off the coast of...

Dec 31, 2004

Tsunami Didn't Redraw Asian Coastlines

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) _ Aerial images of tsunami-battered coastlines suggest the world map may be changed forever, with chunks of land sinking into the sea. But did the quake and the killer wave it spawned really significantly reshape the Indian Ocean's outline? Scientists say probably not. Almost all the apparent...

Dec 31, 2004

Tsunami Special Report

The earthquake and tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004 combined to create a disaster in Asia that is among the worst in recorded history. Though significant tsunamis are rare, it was not the first event of its kind. Tsunamis have proven incredibly deadly in the past. In 1896 a tsunami caused...

Dec 31, 2004

Mudslide Map Aids Californians During Recent Rainstorms

Nature's cruel rejoinder to summer wildfires common in California is sometimes heavy rains that trigger floods and sudden, devastating mudslides and debris flows on charred slopes denuded of brush and roots that bind the soil. With heavier than usual rainfall this winter in Southern California on the heels of extensive...

Dec 31, 2004

Dinosaur Fossil Found in Mammal's Stomach

In China, scientists have identified the fossilized remains of a tiny dinosaur in the stomach of a mammal. Scientists say the animal's last meal probably is the first proof that mammals hunted small dinosaurs some 130 million years ago. It contradicts conventional evolutionary theory that early mammals couldn't possibly attack...

Dec 31, 2004

Caribbean to Get Tsunami Warning System as Scientists Fret

Last month's tsunami-causing earthquake in Indonesia has scientists exploring seafloors and fault lines in an effort to predict where and when a similar disaster could occur. While it is unlikely that such a catastrophe will strike the Atlantic Coast of the United States, there is growing concern that a series...

Dec 31, 2004

High-Altitude Mystery Flash Recorded by Space Shuttle

If it wasn't enough that the upper atmosphere is full of sprites and elves, now there may be tigers as well. Researchers reviewing data from the fateful Space Shuttle Columbia mission have identified a strange flash over the Indian Ocean that they have called a Transient Ionospheric Glow Emission in...

Dec 31, 2004

A Natural Compass: Rock Cracks Point North

Night has fallen, and you are lost in the middle of an unfamiliar desert. There are ways to find your bearings by looking up at the stars. But how about looking down at the rocks? According to Leslie McFadden of the University of New Mexico, there may be a kind...