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.
Joanna Hubbard teaches science in Anchorage, Alaska.
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Image courtesy of Joanna Hubbard.

Joanna Hubbard

This is my 10th year with the Anchorage School District as a science teacher, currently working with K-12 teachers around the district rather than in a classroom. My most recent classroom time was as a 7th grade science teacher here in Anchorage. I have a MS in Science Education and lots of background and training in various areas of biology. Being active outside is a favorite pastime - I enjoy orienteering, hiking, bird-watching, and SCUBA diving. Traveling in the US and around the world to learn new things and meet different people is important to me. Drawing or photography always help me look more closely at everything.

This will be my second trip to Antarctica. I worked in Antarctica in 2000 for two and a half months starting at the end of February at Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula as a science educator with a marine chemical ecology team. We spent the majority of our time there SCUBA diving to collect marine macroalgae (seaweed) and invertebrates. The primary goal of that science group was to understand how these plants and animals use chemicals within their bodies for defense, survival, and structural support; they also did some bio-prospecting for new chemical compounds that might have a positive effect on human health. Archived journals from that experience can be found at tea.armadaproject.org/tea_hubbardfrontpage.html.

This visit, I'm most excited about learning how to 'read' the rocks. My background is in biology, not geology. I can't wait to understand what the scientists are learning about the past environment from clues in the rock core. I'm also looking forward to being on the main continent of Antarctica, inside the Antarctic circle!

Last modified October 3, 2007 by Randy Russell.

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