Robert Brandenberger The inflationary scenario has become the paradigm of early universe cosmology, and – in conjuction with ideas from superstring theory – has led to speculations about an “inflationary multiverse”. From a point of view of phenomenology, the inflationary universe scenario has been very successful. However, the scenario suffers from some conceptual problems, and… [Read more…]
March 26, 2012
Professor Kosuke Heki of Hokkaido University in Japan believes he has found a way to predict earthquakes. Heki analyses GPS signals by measuring the TEC, or Total Electron Content, in the upper atmosphere. Whilst measuring how the TEC was disrupted by sound waves after the Tohoku earthquake of 2011, he discovered – quite by accident… [Read more…]
January 3, 2012
In the Andean mountain range, stretching across the border between Chile and Argentina, lies a volcanic caldera named Laguna del Maule, roughly 15 by 25 kilometers (9 by 15 miles) across. Within the northern part of the caldera lies Maule Lake, which is surrounded by a complex volcanic landscape. This perspective image is made from data acquired… [Read more…]
December 20, 2011
The composition of the Earth’s core remains a mystery. Scientists know that the liquid outer core consists mainly of iron, but it is believed that small amounts of some other elements are present as well. Oxygen is the most abundant element in the planet, so it is not unreasonable to expect oxygen might be one… [Read more…]
November 10, 2011
It is much easier to get to Mars than to get deep inside this planet, so for all our knowledge about things like earthquakes and the magnetic field, Earth’s interior is actually very poorly understood. To study how metals interact at the prodigious pressures within, scientists squeeze small particles in the lab and heat them… [Read more…]
October 20, 2011
NASA, NOAA Data Show Significant Antarctic Ozone Hole Remains The Antarctic ozone hole, which yawns wide every Southern Hemisphere spring, reached its annual peak on Sept. 12. It stretched to 10.05 million square miles, the ninth largest ozone hole on record. Above the South Pole, the ozone hole reached its deepest point of the season… [Read more…]
July 4, 2011
The sun rises over the central peak complex of the moon’s Tycho crater in this image captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on 10 June. The spacecraft, which has been collecting detailed information about the lunar environment since June 2009, angled its orbit 65 degrees to the west to capture the image. Located near the… [Read more…]
June 6, 2011
In the first century AD, a Greek geographer and historian named Strabo noted that a peninsula just south of Athens called Piraeus had, at one time in the past, been an island. It’s unusual for landforms to change so quickly that humans can take notice, even over generations, so that’s a pretty interesting claim. The… [Read more…]
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April 30, 2012
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