A meteorite found in Morocco last summer was recently found to be from Mars, ejected from the surface 700,000 years ago, and subsequently traveling to Earth. The meteorite includes obsidian glass which contains noble gas inclusions. The meteorite was observed to fall to Earth near the village of Tissint in the Moroccan desert.
For more information, see the article in Science.
An Earth-sized planet has been discovered orbiting Alpha Centauri B. The Alpha Centauri system, which includes three stars, is the star system nearest Earth - only 4.4 light years away. The discovery was made by a team of European astronomers. The planet is likely to be a rocky planet, but is not habitable, with surface temperatures of 1,200 degrees.
At least 10 tornadoes were reported overnight in the mid-west of the United States, hitting towns in the states of Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. Storms are moving east, and the tornado threat continues. For more information, visit the Weather Channel.
Every four years, we have an extra day in the month of February. Why?
Images of a martian landscape offer evidence that the Red Planet’s surface not only can shake like the surface of Earth, but has done so relatively recently. According to scientists from the University of London, the Open University, and the Geological Survey of Italy reporting their analysis of High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) imagery, if mars quakes do indeed take place, Mars may still have active volcanism, which could help create conditions for liquid water.
We're in for a treat this weekend!
On Saturday and Sunday, the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus will be lining up in the western sky. The two planets are approaching 10 degrees apart in the sky by the end of the month. You can see all three at twilight, when the crescent Moon is also visible. For more information, see http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/venus-jupiter-moon-offer-night-show_2012-02-24.
The heat wave that struck western Russia in summer 2010, killed 55,000 people, broke July temperatures records and caused $15 billion in damage. A new study concludes the devastating heat wave had human and natural causes. Soaring temperatures were found to be within the natural range for a Russian summer, but due to human-induced climate change, the chance of such an extreme heat wave has tripled over the past several decades. For more details, see the AGU Press Release from February 21st, 2012.
Scientists studying air pollution produced by excavation of oil sands have found elevated levels of the pollutants nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide within 50 km of the mines in Alberta, Canada. For more information, see the AGU Press Release from February 22, 2012.
30 January 2012
AGU Release No. 12-05
For Immediate Release
WASHINGTON, DC—New evidence from northern ice sheets suggests that volcanic eruptions triggered the multiple-century cool spell known as the Little Ice Age, and pinpoints the start of the climate shift to the final decades of the 13th century.
According to the new study, the Little Ice Age began abruptly between 1275 and 1300 A.D., triggered by repeated, explosive volcanism and sustained by a self-perpetuating sea ice-ocean feedback in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The Indiana House Speaker has effectively killed a bill moving forward in the Indiana Legislature that would have allowed creationism to be taught in K-12 science classrooms. See http://www.indystar.com/article/20120215/NEWS05/202150309/Indiana-House-speaker-kills-bill-would-let-creationism-taught-science-class?odyssey=tab for more information.
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A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of sustainability.
Here is a link to the one-page bill:
Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials from the early Earth’s crust. But decisive evidence for this phenomenon has proven elusive.
Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth’s center to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 degrees hotter than in a previous experiment run 20 years ago.
