Current Events

  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
  • Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley
    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Io...Read more

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    Massive Tornado Outbreak on Tornado Alley

    The week of May 19 brings dozens of tornadoes to Tornado Alley in the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. On May 20th, a massive tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, devastating communities - destroying over 100 homes and hitting two elementary schools and a hospital - with many casualties and deaths. Our thoughts are with our friends and colleagues suffering from these storms. For more on the May 20th storms, see the NOAA Storm Prediction Center Storm Report.
  • 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.

Headline Universe

Welcome to our Headline Universe section! Although Windows to the Universe isn't a news website, we do try to keep the site up to date with as much information as possible about the Earth and space sciences. We have organized news in a number of different categories - by subject (Earth News, Solar System News, Universe News, and Space Mission News) as well as news that is Hot Off the Press! Through our collaboration with the National Science Foundation, through which we keep you up to date on NSF-funded research highlights, we also have an abundance of News Releases from the NSF (in addition to podcasts, videos, and interactives) that we have collected here for you as well as integrating them in the categories mentioned above. Finally, we have a link to our older news pieces, going back to 1995, in our Archive section.
Ann Budd of the University of Iowa and John Pandolfi of the University of Queensland, Australia, two scientists who have been studying corals reefs, say that it's important to not only protect endangered <a href="/earth/climate/coral_change.html&dev=1">corals</a> in areas that have the largest variety of species, but also the corals in the edges of the reefs. Find our more about their research <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/CoralReef_17June10.html&dev=1">here</a>.<p><small><em> Image courtesy of NOAA</em></small></p>Scientists are currently tracking the effects of the <a href="/teacher_resources/main/teach_oil_spill.html&dev=1">recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill</a> on the wetlands of the Louisiana coast. Robert Twilley and Guerry Holm of Louisiana State University (LSU) want to know more about the role the Mississippi River will play in keeping it from contaminating the coast and wetlands in this part of the Gulf of Mexico. Find out more about their research <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/OilSpill_17June10.html&dev=1">here</a>.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of USGS</em></small></p>Daniel Wolf Savin, a senior research scientist at Columbia University's Astrophysics Laboratory, has published a paper on the research he and his colleagues have done on how stars began. They learned that hydrogen and helium produced all other <a href="/physical_science/element.html&dev=1">elements</a> in the <a href="/the_universe/the_universe.html&dev=1">universe</a>. Find out more about their research <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/stars_01july10.html&dev=1">here</a>.<p><small><em> Image Courtesy of Daniel Wolf Savin, Columbia University</em></small></p>A new study shows that <a href="/earth/Water/overview.html&dev=1">water</a> might have been present very early in the <a href="/earth/past/geologic_time.html&dev=1">formation</a> of <a href="/earth/earth.html&dev=1">Earth</a>. Before this new information, scientists thought water came to Earth from <a href="/comets/comets.html&dev=1">comets</a>. Find out more <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/SilverEarth_13may10.html&dev=1">here</a>.<p><small><em> Image Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey</em></small></p>Anthony Wesley is an amateur astronomer in Australia. On the night of July 19, 2009, Wesley noticed a dark spot on <a href="/jupiter/jupiter.html&dev=1">Jupiter</a> that hadn't been there before. He had discovered the remains of a huge impact on Jupiter! Find out more <a href="/jupiter/jupiter_impact_july_2009.html&dev=1">here</a>.<p><small><em> Images courtesy of NASA, ESA, and H. Hammel (Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo.), and the Jupiter Impact Team.</em></small></p>Astronomers have discovered a <a href="/our_solar_system/dwarf_planets/planet_definition.html&dev=1">planet</a> about 40 light-years from <a href="/earth/earth.html&dev=1">Earth</a> that contains <a href="/earth/Water/overview.html&dev=1">water</a>. They describe this planet as a "super-Earth" planet because it is between one and ten times the mass of the Earth. Although too hot to sustain <a href="/earth/Life/life.html&dev=1">life</a>, it is much smaller, cooler, and more Earthlike than any other planet that has been discovered outside our <a href="/our_solar_system/solar_system.html&dev=1">solar system</a>. Find out more <a href="/headline_universe/olpa/WaterPlanet_16Dec09.html&dev=1">here</a>.<p><small><em>Image Courtesy of David Aguilar, Harvard-Smithsonian CfA</em></small></p>

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Read about science happenings and discoveries that have occurred in the last couple months. ...Read more

Earth News

The Earth is a complex and dynamic system. Explore Earth news by date or topic. ...Read more

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Be inspired by exciting science happening throughout our solar system. ...Read more

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This area sheds light on the amazing and mysterious objects in our universe through current news articles. ...Read more

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Find out more about current manned and unmanned space missions. ...Read more

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Find out about science funded by the National Science Foundation. ...Read more

News Archive (3/95-12/00)

Access science news pieces that were written from 1995-2000 ...Read more

Historical Events

5/22 ~7.9 magnitude earthquake hits near Xining, Tsinghai, China in 1927
5/24 Nicholas Copernicus, a Polish astronomer, died on this date in 1543 Details
5/30 7.5 magnitude quake hits Quetta, Pakistan in 1935

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Did you know?

Did you know that, in Egyptian mythology, the sky goddess Nut married the Earth god Geb, and that the Sun god Re was angry, and so forced them to separate?

Did you know that the Yoruba god of the sea, Olokun, lives in a palace under the sea, with human and fish attendants?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Cirque
xCirque : A semicircular basin excavated by glaciers in mountain top regions; may contain a lake

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Soil Microbes Produce Less Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Than Expected With Global Warming

Scientists have learned that microbes that live in the soil, like fungi and bacteria, don't produce more carbon dioxide when the climate is warmer. In fact, at first these microbes will produce more carbon...Read more

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