Current Events

  • Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education
    A bill has been introduced in the Kansas legislature this week that would prohibit the promotion of ...Read more

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    Kansas Legislator Proposes Bill to Outlaw Sustainability Education

    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: http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/measures/documents/hb2366_00_0000.pdf. See report on Bloomberg News.
  • Earth's Center Is 1,000 Degrees Hotter Than Previously Thought, Synchrotron X-Ray Experiment Shows
    Scientists have determined the temperature near the Earth’s center to be 6000 degrees Celsius, 1000 ...Read more

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    Earth's Center Is 1,000 Degrees Hotter Than Previously Thought, Synchrotron X-Ray Experiment Shows

    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. These measurements confirm geophysical models that the temperature difference between the solid core and the mantle above, must be at least 1500 degrees to explain why the Earth has a magnetic field. For more information about this study, see the press release from the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility.
  • Ocean Volcanic Rocks Contain Samples of Recycled Crust
    Scientists have long believed that lava erupted from certain oceanic volcanoes contains materials fr...Read more

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    Ocean Volcanic Rocks Contain Samples of Recycled Crust

    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. New research from a team including Carnegie’s Erik Hauri demonstrates that oceanic volcanic rocks contain samples of recycled crust dating back to the Archean era 2.5 billion years ago. Their work is published in Nature. Oceanic crust sinks into the Earth’s mantle at so-called subduction zones, where two plates come together. Much of what happens to the crust during this journey is unknown. Model-dependent studies for how long subducted material can exist in the mantle are uncertain and evidence of very old crust returning to Earth’s surface via upwellings of magma has not been found until now. For more information about these results, see the press release from the Carnegie Institution.
Educator Jean Pennycook studies Adelie penguins in Antarctica.
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Jean Pennycook

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Postcards from the Field: Antarctica

Jean Pennycook

Jean has been a science teacher for 20 years. In that time she has served to promote science education and excellence at all levels encouraging students to continue a higher education and pursue science related careers. Her first trip to Antarctica was in 1999 when she joined a team from New Mexico Institute of Technology and Mines doing research on Mt Erebus, the only active volcano in Antarctica. In addition to being an active part of the research team, Jean connected what the scientists were doing over the Internet to classrooms across the country. Jean posted 200 digital pictures and journal entries online for students to read and respond to. From December 2006 to January 2007, Jean returns to create a documentary on how Adelie Penguins are altering their behavior and population dynamics in response to global climate change. During this time, Jean will be sending online postcards to Windows to the Universe about her experiences in Antarctica.

Take a look at Jean’s reports by visiting Postcards from the Field: Antarctica!

Last modified November 28, 2006 by Lisa Gardiner.

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