© Craig Crawford
The exhaust trail left by the Space Shuttle Discovery as it blasted off from Cape Canaveral in early April 2009
The exhaust trail left by the Space Shuttle Discovery as it blasted off from Cape Canaveral in early April 2009
Earth Changes
Space shuttle Discovery lifted off from Cape Canaveral on Monday morning, April 5th, on a 13-day mission to the International Space Station. Long after the shuttle disappeared from the brightening dawn sky, however, onlookers continued to stare ... at this:
A high-speed solar wind stream has been blowing around Earth for three days, sparking some of the strongest geomagnetic storms and brightest auroras in years. Here is the view, yesterday, from Antarctica:
© Greenpeace / Pascal Simard
Greenpeace corn action during the International Biosafety Protocol.
Greenpeace corn action during the International Biosafety Protocol.
A group of Midwest organic farmers is reporting increasingly higher levels of GMO contamination of organic corn, which is jeopardizing their ability to sell to organic grain buyers.
A spokesman for the group, which wishes to remain unidentified to protect their organic markets, says, "We're doing more testing and seeing increased low levels of GMO contamination."
The farmer group sells organic yellow and white corn for food use.
The farmers screen their corn for grade, kernel size, test weight, and GMOs. "Buyers will test it too," says the spokesman.
A powerful earthquake has struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Locals were evacuated to higher ground amid fears of a tsunami, although the alert has now been lifted. Three aftershocks rattled the north of Sumatra, but there were no reports of casualties. The 7.8-magnitude quake is the second major one to hit the island in six months.
Millions of people in the U.S. felt the effect of a powerful earthquake that struck Mexico on Sunday morning. Tremors reached north as far as Las Vegas with residents reporting swaying buildings and choppy swimming pools. The 7.2 magnitude quake was centred 60 km southeast of the border city Mexicali, where two people were killed and others remain trapped in their homes. A state of emergency has been declared there. It is the strongest quake to hit the area in decades.
This year's hurricane season is expected to be more active than usual, and communities along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts face a 69 percent risk of being buffeted by a major storm in the coming months, according to forecasters at Colorado State University.
Researchers said eight hurricanes and 15 named tropical storms are likely to form in the Atlantic basin during the 2010 hurricane season, which begins June 1 and extends through Nov. 30. Four of the storms are expected to develop into major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
The forecasting team based its predictions on weakening of El Nino conditions combined with abnormally strong warming of the tropical Atlantic waters.
"We believe that these two features will lead to favorable dynamic and thermodynamic conditions for hurricane formation and intensification," the team stated in an update of a report issued in December.
Led by pioneering forecaster William Gray, Colorado State University researchers have been forecasting hurricanes for 27 years. The team bases its predictions on historical data. The 2010 season shows similarities to conditions preceding the very active 1958, 1966, 1969, 1998 and 2005 hurricane seasons.
Researchers said eight hurricanes and 15 named tropical storms are likely to form in the Atlantic basin during the 2010 hurricane season, which begins June 1 and extends through Nov. 30. Four of the storms are expected to develop into major hurricanes with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
The forecasting team based its predictions on weakening of El Nino conditions combined with abnormally strong warming of the tropical Atlantic waters.
"We believe that these two features will lead to favorable dynamic and thermodynamic conditions for hurricane formation and intensification," the team stated in an update of a report issued in December.
Led by pioneering forecaster William Gray, Colorado State University researchers have been forecasting hurricanes for 27 years. The team bases its predictions on historical data. The 2010 season shows similarities to conditions preceding the very active 1958, 1966, 1969, 1998 and 2005 hurricane seasons.
© Arvin C. Diesmos/AP Photo
A golden-spotted monitor lizard rests on a tree trunk in the Sierra Madre mountains, Philippines.
A golden-spotted monitor lizard rests on a tree trunk in the Sierra Madre mountains, Philippines.
The 6.5-foot (2-meter) -long lizard was first spotted in 2004 in the Sierra Madre mountains on the main island of Luzon when local researchers saw local Agta tribesmen carrying one of the dead reptiles.
But it took until last year to determine it was a new species. After capturing an adult, researchers from the University of Kansas and the National Museum of the Philippines obtained DNA samples that helped confirm the lizard was new to science.
The Northern Sierra Madre Forest Monitor Lizard or Varanus bitatawa feasts on fruits and snails rather than carcasses, unlike many monitors, including its larger relative, the Komodo dragon, according to American and Filipino researchers who wrote about the discovery in Wednesday's peer-reviewed Royal Society journal Biology Letters. It spends much of its time in the treetops and has unique claws that allow it to reach its favorite fruits.
© Reuters
Cars on a flooded street near Rodrigo de Freitas lake in Rio de Janeiro
Cars on a flooded street near Rodrigo de Freitas lake in Rio de Janeiro
Mudslides swept away shacks in Rio's hillside slums, turning the city's main lake and the sea brown during the round-the-clock heavy rains.
Morning flights in and out of the city of six million people - which will host the 2014 soccer World Cup and the 2016 Olympics - were canceled or seriously delayed and many neighborhoods were cut off from power and transport.
© Pravda.ru
Police say the tornado touched down in at least two places on the island of Grand Bahama.
Police say the tornado touched down in at least two places on the island of Grand Bahama.
Police spokeswoman Loretta Mackey says there are no immediate reports of fatalities. Mackey says authorities are still checking reports of damage at the island's container port and elsewhere.
Monday's storm uprooted trees in the tourist area of Lucaya.
There are also reports of damaged cars and businesses.
A forecaster with the Bahamas Meteorology Department says heavy thunderstorms are expected to last until at least late afternoon.
© Reuters/U.S. Geological Survey/Handout/Combination
A major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 shook the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday.
A major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 shook the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the U.S. Geological Survey said Tuesday.
A local tsunami watch was in effect for Indonesia, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
"A destructive widespread tsunami threat does not exist based on historical earthquake and tsunami data," the center said.
But it added "there is the possibility of a local tsunami that could affect coasts" no more than 100 km (62 miles) from the epicenter of the quake.
The quake was centered 127 miles west-northwest of Sibolga and was at a depth of 28.6 miles, the USGS said. It initially reported the quake's magnitude at 7.6.
In December 2004, a magnitude 9.15 quake off the coast of Sumatra's Aceh province triggered an Indian Ocean tsunami that killed about 226,000 people in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and nine other countries.
Comment: Nothing to see here folks! It's just a wispy plume of of water droplets and ice crystals. Go back to sleep... oh look, a terrorist!