January 14, 2015 Earth Science
Antarctic Islands: Before Antarctica had been discovered, there was avid speculation as to what lay at the end of the southern world. Many an explorer, whaler, and adventurer sought their destinies and fortunes in the quest for the Southern Continent….
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January 14, 2015 Earth Science
You probably won’t see goldfishes swimming in the ocean, and clown fishes are amusing, but you are not going to see them at a freshwater lake near you. There is a good reason for that, and that is because animals…
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January 14, 2015 Earth Science
Estuaries and hydrothermal vents constitute two very different ecosystems, but they have a curious characteristic in common: in both, two different kinds of water meet, creating a unique environment. Their peculiar features favor the flourishing of many forms of life,…
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January 14, 2015 Earth Science
Challenger Deep, the deepest place on earth, lies at the southern end of the Marianas ocean trench in the West Pacific. Ocean trenches, such as the Marianas Trench, mark the subduction zones where an oceanic tectonic plate dives under another…
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January 13, 2015 Earth Science
The National Snow and Ice Center (NSIDC) is based at the University of Colorado, in Boulder. It is a part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences and began in 1957. Its basic premise is to support research…
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January 13, 2015 Earth Science
“Shields up!” The protective field wraps the fragile craft in a shimmering cocoon. The attack begins with a blast of charged energy that is harmlessly dissipated into space. The attack picks up and the shields momentarily buckle, resulting in a…
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January 13, 2015 Earth Science
Hurricane season in Mexico? Now you would think that we wouldnt even have to write an article on this one. Wouldnt you think the travel agencies would post this information and have everyone memorize it? Well, not so much. It…
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January 13, 2015 Earth Science
The Earth as a whole acts as a complex unit, with the goal of balancing energy and heat to all parts. If this is so, why are some places always the coldest or warmest? What conditions are needed to form…
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January 13, 2015 Earth Science
The Earth’s atmosphere is a complex system made up of centers of high and low pressure. These air masses interact to form sensible weather. In the upper atmosphere at mid to high latitudes these air masses interact in a complex…
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January 13, 2015 Earth Science
It may seem strange to some, but we are still in the early learning stages when it comes to lightning. More knowledge is being amassed every year about this phenomenon. One of the reasons that so much time, effort, and…
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