Earth’s magnetic field extends from the Earth’s iron interior out into space, where it meets the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from the Sun, whose charged particles would otherwise strip away the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation. After three years of collecting data, the highest resolution map …
Category: Earth: Science
Star Talk Radio: Bill Nye: No More Ice Ages?
What will the next ice age look like with our warmer global climate? Climatologist Gavin Schmidt recaps some past ice ages, and then gives us a glimpse into the future. Find out how dropping carbon dioxide levels led to our current cycle of ice ages, and how rising levels might change our future expectations. Don’t …
Kyle Sullivan: A History of Antarctica
Where Kyle uses pictures to embark on a seven minute quest to befriend a penguin. Seriously, penguins are cool. Kyle Sullivan created this video about the origins of Antarctica, starting with the warm supercontinent Gondwana, where west Antarctica spent time in the Northern Hemisphere and east Antarctica in the tropics. What we know as Antarctica …
SpaceRip: Earth 100 Million Years From Now
Earth’s landmasses were not always what they are today. Continents formed as Earth’s crustal plates shifted and collided over long periods of time. This video shows how today’s continents are thought to have evolved over the last 600 million years, and where they’ll end up in the next 100 million years. Paleogeographic Views of Earth’s …
Tested: Flying Drones Over Volcanoes
Meet Eric Cheng, a photographer and technologist who was most recently the Director of Aerial Imaging for DJI. Eric’s work with drones has taken him all around the world, including to iceland, where he captured amazing footage of erupting volcanoes with his quadcopters. Eric shares with us how he flew over active volcanoes in this …
NASA: Yearly Biosphere Cycle
Animation showing the 12-month cycle of all plant life on Earth – whether on land or in the ocean. Rather than showing a specific year, the animation shows an average yearly cycle by combining data from many satellite instruments and averaging them over multiple years. Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
MIT: Rainfall can release aerosols | Why it smells funny when it rains
Using high-speed cameras, MIT researchers observed that when a raindrop hits a surface, it traps tiny air bubbles at the point of contact. As in a glass of champagne, the bubbles then shoot upward, ultimately bursting from the drop in a fizz of aerosols. The researchers suspect that in natural environments, aerosols may carry aromatic …
Arizona State University: Voting Basics & Science Matters with Lawrence Krauss
Early voting starts October 9. Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell will tell you everything you need to know to successfully cast your ballot. Arizona State University physicist Lawrence Krauss discusses the latest science news, including new information revealing that water on earth may be older than the solar system itself.
NASA: Arctic Sea Ice Reaches 2014 Minimum Extent
Sea ice acts as an air conditioner for the planet, reflecting energy from the sun. On September 17, the Arctic sea ice reached its minimum extent for 2014. At 1.94 million square miles (5.02 million square kilometers), it’s the sixth lowest extent of the satellite record. With warmer temperatures and thinner, less resilient ice, the …
Antonio Donato Nobre: The magic of the Amazon: A river that flows invisibly all around us
The Amazon River is like a heart, pumping water from the seas through it, and up into the atmosphere through 600 billion trees, which act like lungs. Clouds form, rain falls and the forest thrives. In a lyrical talk, Antonio Donato Nobre talks us through the interconnected systems of this region, and how they provide …
Kurzgesagt: Everything You Need to Know About Planet Earth
Planet Earth is this solid thing you are standing on right now. In your everyday life you don’t really waste a thought about how amazing this is. A giant, ancient, hot rock. How did it come into existence and how big is it really? You will be surprised. The ground you are standing on is …
NASA: Aquarius Returns Global Maps of Soil Moisture
NASA’s Aquarius instrument has released its first released worldwide maps of soil moisture. Soil moisture, the water contained within soil particles, is an important player in Earth’s water cycle. This animated version of Aquarius’ measurements reveals a dynamic pattern of worldwide shifts between dry and moist soils.
Cambridge University: ‘Extreme Sleepover’ — all aboard the floating science factory
Deep sea sediment cores — they’re cold, they’re muddy, and they’re revealing 30,000 years of climate history — as University of Cambridge PhD student Julia Gottschalk reports from her voyage aboard the James Cook research ship last summer. The James Cook is a British Royal Research Ship operated by the Natural Environment Research Council and …
Louie Schwartzberg: Hidden miracles of the natural world
Published on Apr 9, 2014 We live in a world of unseeable beauty, so subtle and delicate that it is imperceptible to the human eye. To bring this invisible world to light, filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg bends the boundaries of time and space with high-speed cameras, time lapses and microscopes. At TED2014, he shares highlights from …
- 1
- 2