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.

Solar Eclipse Webcast from Africa - March 29, 2006

On March 29, 2006 a total solar eclipse was visible from parts of Africa. Scientists from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana webcast live video coverage of this event. Windows to the Universe was a mirror site for the webcast. Although the live webcast is over now, you can watch a replay of the eclipse by clicking on the link below.

Webcast icon Click here to watch a replay of the eclipse webcast. The eclipse peak can be found approximately 2 hours and 6 minutes into the stream.

The middle of the eclipse occurred around 9:10 Universal Time (4:10 AM Eastern time, 2:10 AM Mountain time, or 1:10 AM Pacific time in the United States) on March 29, 2006.

The video will also highlight science being done at various locations throughout Africa. This may include the African LASER Centre, LAMNET (Lasers, Atomic, and Molecular Sciences Network), and the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). SALT is the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. SALT has a mirror array 10 meters (33 feet) across that is made up of 91 identical hexagonal mirror segments.

Other astronomy programs in Africa include H.E.S.S. and S.K.A. The High Energy Stereoscopic System (H.E.S.S.) in Namibia detects faint flashes of light in the atmosphere caused by gamma rays. South Africa is one of four countries bidding to host the Square Kilometer Array (S.K.A.), an array of radio telescope dishes that will have a combined surface area of one square kilometer.

Last modified April 27, 2006 by Randy Russell.

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