news 2010

New insights into volcanic activity on the ocean floor New research explains why some parts of the world saw massive volcanic activity while others did not New research reveals that when two parts of the Earth's crust break apart, this does not always cause massive volcanic eruptions. The study, published today , explains why some parts of the world saw massive volcanic eruptions millions of years ago and others did not.

WASHINGTON - A NASA-led research team has successfully demonstrated for the first time elements of a prototype tsunami prediction system that quickly and accurately assesses large earthquakes and estimates the size of resulting tsunamis. After the magnitude 8. Chilean earthquake on Feb. 27, a team led by Y. Tony Song of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used real-time data from the agency's Global Differential GPS (GDGPS) network to successfully predict the size of the resulting tsunami.

PASADENA, Calif. A NASA-led research team has successfully demonstrated for the first time elements of a prototype tsunami prediction system that quickly and accurately assesses large earthquakes and estimates the size of resulting tsunamis. After the magnitude 8. Chilean earthquake on Feb. 27, a team led by Y. Tony Song of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., used real-time data from the agency's Global Differential GPS (GDGPS) network to successfully predict the size of the resulting tsunami.

PASADENA, Calif. Two new papers based on data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft scrutinize the complex chemical activity on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. While non-biological chemistry offers one possible explanation, some scientists believe these chemical signatures bolster the argument for a primitive, exotic form of life or precursor to life on Titan's surface.

Three thousand kilometres beneath our feet, the Earth's solid rock ? known as the mantle ? gives way to the swirling liquid iron of the outer core (the 'core-mantle boundary'). The last few hundred kilometres of the lowermost mantle is also known as D? (pronounced 'dee-double-prime'). D? is one of the most enigmatic parts of the Earth which scientists have struggled to understand for decades; it can only be measured remotely, using seismic waves from earthquakes.

Experts gather as volcanic dust settles 28 May 2010 Following the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajoekull volcano that spewed huge amounts of ash and grounded numerous flights, more than 50 experts from around the world gathered at a workshop organised by ESA and EUMETSAT to discuss what has been learned and identify future opportunities for volcanic ash monitoring.

Scientists have found the possible source of a huge carbon dioxide 'burp' that happened some 18,000 years ago and which helped to end the last ice age. The results provide the first concrete evidence that carbon dioxide (CO2) was more efficiently locked away in the deep ocean during the last ice age, turning the deep sea into a more 'stagnant' carbon repository - something scientists have long suspected but lacked data to support.

With a series of computer-controlled earthquakes, simulating some of the most devastating in recent memory, Berkeley engineers Wednesday showed off new technology designed to keep bridges not just from collapsing in a catastrophic temblor but open to traffic. A 30-foot scale-model bridge, set up on the shake table (earthquake simulator) at the Richmond Field Station, was the star of the show, put on by Berkeley's Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER).

NASA's Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) instrument collected an image over the site of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil rig disaster on May 17, 2010. Crude oil on the surface appears orange to brown. Scientists are using spectroscopic methods to analyze measurements for each point in images like this one to detail the characteristics of the oil on the surface.

PASADENA, Calif. Data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have helped scientists solve a pair of mysteries dating back four decades and provided new information about climate change on the Red Planet. The Shallow Radar, or SHARAD, instrument aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed subsurface geology allowing scientists to reconstruct the formation of a large chasm and a series of spiral troughs on the northern ice cap of Mars.

PASADENA, Calif. Data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have helped scientists solve a pair of mysteries dating back four decades and provided new information about climate change on the Red Planet. The Shallow Radar, or SHARAD, instrument aboard MRO revealed subsurface geology allowing scientists to reconstruct the formation of a large chasm and a series of spiral troughs on the northern ice cap of Mars.

NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, is busy surveying the landscape of the infrared sky, building up a catalog of cosmic specimens - everything from distant galaxies to "failed" stars, called brown dwarfs. Closer to home, the mission is picking out an impressive collection of asteroids and comets, some known and some never seen before.

The upper layer of Earth's ocean has warmed since 1993, indicating a strong climate change signal, according to a new international study co-authored by oceanographer Josh Willis of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The energy stored is enough to power nearly 500 100-watt light bulbs for each of the roughly 6.7 billion people on the planet continuously over the 16-year study period.

May 18, 2010 — Virginia Key — Greenland is situated in the Atlantic Ocean to the northeast of Canada. It has stunning fjords on its rocky coast formed by moving glaciers, and a dense icecap up to 2 km thick that covers much of the island-pressing down the land beneath and lowering its elevation.

Baby corals find their way home in their first days as free-swimming larvae by listening to the noise of animals on the reef and actively swimming towards it, an international team of researchers working in the Caribbean has discovered. These findings raise new concerns for the future of coral reefs as increasing human noise pollution in the world's oceans is masking reef sounds.

In a three-year project, Oxford researchers analysed the effects of ivy growing on buildings in five different parts of England and discovered that the plant plays a protective role. They found that an ivy canopy was like a thermal shield, combating the extremes of temperature which often cause walls to crack.

The evolution of flight took longer than previously thought with the ancestors of modern birds "rubbish” at flying, if they flew at all, according to a Manchester scientist. Archaeopteryx , the theropod dinosaur believed to be the earliest bird, was discovered 150 years ago but debates about how flight evolved still persist.

New research is to make scientists rethink their understanding of how Earth formed. A team of scientists have found that volatile elements - most likely to include water - were present during the violent process of the Earth's birth between 30 and 100 million years after the solar system was created - a minute period in geological terms The findings mean that comets and asteroids were unlikely to have brought the bulk of volatile elements to Earth - as commonly thought.

Archaeologists have disproved the fifty-year-old theory underpinning our understanding of how the famous stone statues were moved around Easter Island. Fieldwork led by researchers at University College London and The University of Manchester, has shown the remote Pacific island's ancient road system was primarily ceremonial and not solely built for transportation of the figures.

A unique map of the UK, showing alternative images of the General Election results, has been created by researchers at the University of Sheffield. The image, which is based on population data, shows how many people are represented by each political party. The map was created by Benjamin Hennig, a postgraduate researcher at the University´s Department of Geography.