A nuclear war between India and Pakistan could, over the span of less than a week, kill 50-125 million people — more than the death toll during all six years of World War II, according to new research.
Read moreUnderstanding the causes and consequences of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions is increasingly important in a world of growing human populations and climate change. A review highlights the role that cutting-edge scientific methods can play in broadening the discussions about megafaunal extinction and enabling insights into ecosystems and species-specific responses to climate change and human activities.
Read moreOverturning tractors are the leading cause of death for farmers around the world. In order to reduce the rate of overturned tractors, researchers have developed a model for understanding the conditions that lead to a tractor overturning from an unlikely source: They based their model on one used to understand the unpredictability of a bouncing ball.
Read moreGeologists have improved upon methods to map seabed rocks, helping us better understand underwater earthquakes and the tsunamis they can cause.
Read moreIdentifying geological features in a densely vegetated, steep, and rough terrain can be almost impossible. Imagery like LiDAR can help researchers see through the tree cover, but subtle landforms can often be missed by the human eye.
Read moreFor iconic landscapes such as Grand Canyon or the Appalachian Mountains, geological features are an integral part of their appeal. Yet despite the seeming permanence of cliffs, caves, fossils, and other geological highlights, these features are surprisingly vulnerable to damage or destruction.
Read moreResearchers have analyzed mountain ranges worldwide to show that a theory relating erosion and mountain height doesn't always add up.
Read moreFor more than a century, a guiding principle in seismology has been that earthquakes recur at semi-regular intervals according to a 'seismic cycle.' In this model, strain that gradually accumulates along a locked fault is completely released in a large earthquake. Recently, however, seismologists have realized that earthquakes often occur in clusters separated by gaps, and one research group now argues that the probability of a tremor's recurrence depends upon whether a cluster is ongoing — or over.
Read moreAtmospheric scientists reveal details of the connection between a larger atmospheric phenomenon, termed the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), and the daily patterns of rainfall in the Maritime Continent.
Read moreWeathering of subsurface rock in the Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains of California occurs due more to rocks expanding than from chemical decomposition.
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