Arabia is a vast desert today. But times change all things and ages ago the climate was milder and wetter. Satellite images have revealed that a network of ancient rivers once coursed their way through the sand of the Arabian Desert, leading scientists to believe that the region experienced wetter periods in the past. The…

The Yellowstone Caldera is the volcanic caldera located in Yellowstone National Park in the United States, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano. The caldera is located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, in which the vast majority of the park is contained. Researchers at Washington State University and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Center…

Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world’s oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has approximately 35 grams (1.2 oz) of dissolved salts (predominantly sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl−) ions). A clear change in…

Concrete is considered fairly durable. The alkali–silica reaction (ASR) is a reaction which occurs over time in concrete between the highly alkaline cement paste and reactive non-crystalline (amorphous) silica, which is found in many common aggregates. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) released a report today about potentially serious concrete degradation possibly due to this…

Methane can be released to the atmosphere from a variety of natural and and made sources. The fragile and rapidly changing Arctic region is home to large reservoirs of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. As Earth’s climate warms, the methane, frozen in reservoirs stored in Arctic tundra soils or marine sediments, is vulnerable to being…

A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. Semiconductor materials are the foundation of modern electronics, including radio, computers, telephones, and many other devices. Such devices include transistors and digital and analog integrated circuits. Transition metal oxides also fill this category of materials. But…

There is a lot not clear about the weather. In the US Northeast, it is clearly quite warm and almost hot. The average global temperature for March 2012 made it the coolest March since 1999, yet the 16th warmest since record keeping began in 1880. Arctic sea ice extent during the month was below average…

Shade avoidance syndrome or SAS. When it is hot most people enjoy the shade but not plants which live for the sun. They have SAS. Now, the molecular details of SAS have been brought to light by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. To step out of their neighbors’ shade, plants switch on…

Shale oil, known also as kerogen oil or oil-shale oil, is an unconventional oil produced from oil shale by pyrolysis, hydrogenation, or thermal dissolution. These processes convert the organic matter within the rock (kerogen) into synthetic oil and gas. The resulting oil can be used immediately as a fuel or upgraded to meet refinery feedstock…

Research has been performed with the intention of discovering how pigeons can find their way back from distant places they have never visited before. Most researchers believe that homing ability is based on a map and compass model, with the compass feature allowing birds to orient and the map feature allowing birds to determine their…