by admin | Jun 30, 2021 | News
The Pacific Northwest of North America has been experiencing unprecedented heat these last few days. But “unprecedented” doesn’t even do it justice. Statistically speaking, this is shaping up to be a once in a 1000-year occurrence – and that’s in a normal...
by admin | Jun 23, 2021 | News
This past weekend, Ricardo and I were in South Dakota. While there, hiking the highpoint (Black Elk Peak – 7,242 ft./2207 m), we were also able to visit nearby Mt. Rushmore – my first time seeing this national memorial. The size of the faces carved into the rock is...
by admin | Jun 16, 2021 | News
Guest post by Dylan Dickstein: Astronaut analogs are unique and incredible opportunities to jump into new worlds and challenge your ability to remain productive and level-headed while living in isolation with limited resources. This past April, The Explorers Club...
by admin | Jun 9, 2021 | News
Did you know that, deep below the snowpack during the winter, wildfires can still smolder? It’s pretty rare – but these overwintering fires do happen! Typically, when forest fires are put out, they stay out. They don’t survive cold, wet winters. But in boreal forests...
by admin | Jun 2, 2021 | News
Up in the Arctic, 650 miles from the North Pole, there appears to be a landscape dotted with 100 giant golf balls, all cued up and ready for a game. But, in fact, this is the home of SvalSat, the northernmost – and one of the largest – satellite stations in the...
by admin | May 26, 2021 | News
It’s Science Wednesday! This past Saturday (May 22), Mount Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa erupted for the first time in nearly 20 years. This active stratovolcano stands 11,385 feet tall (3470 m) and has a main crater about 2...
by admin | May 19, 2021 | News
It’s Science Wednesday! If you live on the east coast of the United States and have been outside recently, you may have noticed a peculiar sight and sound in the air – loads and loads of male cicadas are singing their siren songs through vibrations of their tymbals, a...
by admin | May 12, 2021 | News
Last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released new climate normals for the US. So, what does this actually mean? A climate normal is a 30-year average of measurements from weather variables like temperature and precipitation from...
by admin | May 5, 2021 | News
In last week’s Science Wednesday, I covered the geology that created the Gulf of California and Baja California. This week, I want to share some photos from a particular island in the region: Isla San Jose, home to some stunning geology, particularly at a place called...
by admin | Apr 30, 2021 | News
There are few places on the planet that are true paradise – that not only provide stunning scenery but incredible diversity of life, microclimates and geology. Baja California Sur – the state in the southern part of the larger Baja California Peninsula...
by admin | Apr 21, 2021 | News
(Science Wednesday is posted early due to some upcoming travel): On the north side of Denali, North America’s highest peak, the Muldrow Glacier has been moving unusually fast: as much as 90 feet/day! What is causing this? It’s called a glacial surge which is a...
by admin | Apr 14, 2021 | News
Life on Earth originated billions of years ago. While there was likely plenty of water and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to work with – essential ingredients for life – most of Earth’s phosphorus was locked up in insoluble rock, making it impossible to...
by admin | Apr 7, 2021 | News
It’s Science Wednesday – and it’s an exciting time in the realm of planetary science! On February 18, 2021, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars in order to explore the Jezero Crater. The primary mission is an astrobiological one: to identify environments capable...
by admin | Mar 31, 2021 | News
So, I should probably be working right now….but…. What is it that makes us procrastinate? Is it because we’re lazy? Or does it have roots in our evolutionary development? As Dr. Tim Pychyl, a psychology professor states, procrastination “is not a time...
by admin | Mar 24, 2021 | News
It’s Science Wednesday! For several weeks, Icelanders had been bracing themselves for a volcanic eruption of some sort, given the island recorded more than 50,000 recent earthquakes! A few days ago – on March 19 – a new fissure (linear volcanic vent through which lava...
by admin | Mar 17, 2021 | News
When we think of climate change, often we think about how the atmosphere is changing – how it’s getting hotter. But there is also a story of change unfolding in the ocean, which absorbs some 90 percent of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions. A system of...
by admin | Mar 11, 2021 | News
From 1914 – 1919, during which time World War I was being fought, an unusual weather pattern settled in over Northern Europe due to what’s called the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). This is a natural fluctuation that occurs in atmospheric pressure over the North...
by admin | Mar 3, 2021 | News
Earlier in February, as the US was in the icy grip of an Arctic blast of cold air, a tragedy was unfolding on the other side of the planet, in northern India. On February 7, 2021, a large torrent of water and debris wiped out multiple hydroelectric power plants in the...
by admin | Feb 24, 2021 | News
Back in January, I wrote about A-68a – the world’s largest iceberg – that was on a collision course with South Georgia Island, an island about 950 miles from the Antarctic Peninsula. The iceberg initially measured more than 2300 square miles (6000 square kilometers)!...
by admin | Feb 17, 2021 | News
In this last week, parts of the US were hit with incredibly cold and deadly winter weather. Places where you typically see palm trees and cacti were covered in snow and ice instead. The state of Texas saw some of its coldest temperatures in more than 30 years, with...
