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.

Norse Mythology

The Norse people lived from about A.D. 200 to 500 in northern Europe and Scandinavia. After A.D. 700, some of the Norse began migration in search of new lands, settling in parts of the British Isles, Iceland, Greenland and East into Russia. From this period on, the Norse are known as Vikings.

The Norse Family Tree
Back to the World Map
Arctic Cultures
The Norse pantheon is a colorful mix of gods and goddesses. Our knowledge of Norse mythology is based mainly on documents written between the 11th and 18th centuries, after the Norse officially became Christian. These documents record earlier stories and sagas. As in other cultures, many of the gods and goddesses in Norse mythology were thought to be related to one another, so they can be represented in a family tree.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of Windows to the Universe</em></small></p>

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Explore Norse Mythology

The Earth: Midgard

Midgard is the realm where human beings live. Midgard, the Earth, was created from the flesh ...Read more

The Sea: Aegir

Aegir was a fierce god of the sea. He had fingers like claws. His wife was named Ran, by whom ...Read more

The Winds: Njord

Njord was the god of the sea and winds in Norse mythology. He is the father of Freyr (Lord) ...Read more

The Thunder: Thor

In Norse mythology, Thor was the god of thunderstorms. He produces the thunder with his marvelous ...Read more

The Sky: Tyr

In the early centuries after the birth of Christ, Tyr was not only the sky god but also the ...Read more

The Sky: Odin

Odin was the prominent deity of the Norsemen. He was called the All-Father. Odin was depicted ...Read more

The Aurora: Freya

The Norse mythology associates the aurora with the goddess Freya. Freya was the goddess of ...Read more

The Northern Lights: The Valkiries

It has been suggested that the northern lights, or aurora, represented the reflections of the ...Read more

The Sun: Freyr

According to Norse mythology, Freyr was closely linked with the Sun. He was the god of peace ...Read more

The Planet Venus: Sif

Scandinavian story-tellers spoke little about goddesses, who were rarely the chief characters ...Read more

More about Norse Mythology

Historical Events

5/30 7.5 magnitude quake hits Quetta, Pakistan in 1935
5/31 7.9 magnitude earthquake hits Peru in 1970
6/8 Giovanni Cassini, an Italian-French astronomer, was born on this date in 1625 Details

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Did you know?

Did you know that the majority of water on Earth is held in the Earth’s ocean?

Did you know that the ancient Greeks revered Gaea as the Earth goddess, and that she was the mother of the Titans and the first humans?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Lithosphere
xLithosphere : The lithosphere is the outer solid part of the earth, including the crust and uppermost mantle.

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Research Highlights

Mysterious Clouds Produced When Aircraft Inadvertently Cause Rain or Snow

As turboprop and jet aircraft climb or descend under certain atmospheric conditions, they can inadvertently "seed" mid-level clouds, causing narrow bands of snow or rain to develop and fall to...Read more

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Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation and NASA, our Founding Partners (the American Geophysical Union and American Geosciences Institute) as well as through Institutional, Contributing, and Affiliate Partners, individual memberships and generous donors. Thank you for your support! NASA AGU AGI NSF