geology
Science

The Yellowstone Supereruption Is Closer Than You Think

Good news, people! Scientists have discovered that “the Yellowstone super-volcano is a little less super than previously thought”. Bad news, people! The Yellowstone super-volcano is “more active than previously thought”. So it’s closer than you think.

April 9, 2012
Geek Out

Check Out This Giant, Beautiful Copper Nugget From Queensland

Gizmodo AU

I’m not sure what size copper nuggets usually come in, but this has to be on the upper end of the bigness scale. Those white bits you can see caught up in its formation are chunks of quartz, though without this knowledge I’d have guessed “extra-terrestrial copper-eating fungus”.

March 1, 2012
Science

The Oldest Forest Ever Discovered

This is the second fossilised forest that has stunned researchers this month, and it’s also the oldest. It’s 385 million years old, from the time when the earth’s first forests appeared. And it was all buried beneath a quarry in Upstate New York.

February 10, 2012
Science

The Most Precise Image Of A Post-Earthquake Landscape Ever Created

A new measurement tool that uses light detection and ranging (or LiDAR) can show how earthquakes have changed the landscape down to a few inches — and that can help us prepare for difficult-to-predict earthquakes.

January 3, 2012
Software

Popular Mechanics QuakeTracker: Tectonic Tracker

I’ve lived in California all my life. While I shrug off any earthquakes below a 5.0, I know that the “Big One” is coming. That’s what they’ve been telling me all my life. The “Big One” is coming and we’re all doomed. To feed my paranoia of falling into the Pacific Ocean, Popular Mechanics has an app to track earthquakes. Awesome?

December 8, 2011
Science

In Here is A Miniature Version Of The Earth’s Spinning Core

So how do you study the Earth’s core and magnetic fields when it’s protected by nearly 3000km of crust? Easy — you just build your own miniature version in a laboratory, using over 12,700kg of molten sodium.

November 18, 2011
Science

Massive Greenhouse Gases Could Kill The Earth

Raging wildfires, acidified oceans and soaring temperatures likely caused a mass extinction 250 million years ago killing 95 per cent of the Earth’s marine life and 70 per cent of terrestrial species.

September 11, 2011
Science

Ancient Earth Got A Galactic Golden Shower

A large part of gold’s allure is its rarity. Even so, it’s still 1000 times more abundant on Earth than it should be. Boffins at University of Bristol now have an explanation for this phenomenon: it came from ouuuuter spaaaaaace!

September 1, 2011
Science

Oldest-Ever Homo Erectus Gadgets Revealed

Scientists say a collection of hand axes, picks and other cutting tools are the oldest-ever Homo erectus tools.

July 13, 2011
Science

Lost Continent Disappeared Beneath The Ocean 55 Million Years Ago

This week, a group of geologists report that they’ve found a lost continent off the coast of Scotland. 55 million years ago, about 10 million years after dinosaurs died out, a chunk of the seafloor erupted from beneath the water.

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