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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 ...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.
This is a drawing showing the composition of the interior of Uranus.

The Composition of Uranus' Interior

The composition of Uranus' interior is methane, in the form of ice.

Ice begins forming in the atmosphere of Uranus, near the methane cloud deck. The amount of ice in the air keeps increasing until there is slush, and then solid ice. This ice is warm (for Uranus) and can flow like the rocky underground mantle layers of Earth.

Compared to Jupiter and Saturn, Uranus has very little metallic hydrogen, and there is much more ice. The drawing shows many more purple ice "cubes" compared to that of Jupiter. Because the magnetosphere comes from the metallic layer, this means that Uranus should have a much smaller magnetosphere than does Jupiter.

The core of Uranus is made out of heavier, rocky and metal elements.

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Ice can flow inside an icy satellite

This is a picture of ice flowing at the south pole, or the Antarctic region of the Earth. Ice flows very easily, but very slowly. Glaciers are perfect examples of the fact that ice can move. Glaciers flow...more

The Making of Uranus' Magnetosphere

Magnetospheres are generated with 1.) magnetic materials and 2.) with motions within the magnetic material. The Earth-like planets generate magnetospheres within the iron cores at the center. However,...more

An Overview of Uranus' Interior

The Giant planets do not have the same layered structure that the earthlike planets do. Their evolution was quite different than that of the earthlike planets, and they have much more gas and ice inside....more

The Source of Heat from Within Uranus

The picture shows places on Jupiter which are hot. Jupiter is a very warm body in space, as shown in the picture, and this warmth is associated with the energy of Jupiter. When the energy of the outer...more

Motions in Uranus' Interior, part 2

Motions in the interior of a gas-giant planet such as Uranus may be very different from the motions within the Earth. A second idea for the motions in the interior of a gas-giant planet is shown in this...more

Motions in Uranus' Interior

Motions in the interior of a planet help carry heat from the inside to the outside. The drawing to the left illustrates the kind of movements that happen in interior of a planet. Material rises from the...more

An Overview of Uranus' Atmospheric Evolution

The giant planets have definitely changed since their formation. But how much remains to be seen. Most of the original air of the giant planets remains in place. (The earth-like planets lost most of their...more

Diffusion in Uranus Atmosphere

Uranus' atmosphere is made of methane, a medium sized molecule. At the uppermost reaches of the atmosphere, methane gas breaks apart due to energy from the sun and from the magnetosphere. The remins of...more

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Young Voices for the Planet DVD in our online store includes 8 films where students speak out and take action on climate change.

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