On November 6, 2009 an asteroid about 20 feet across streaked between Earth and the Moon, missing our planet by a mere two Earth radii. The asteroid was not discovered until it was just 15 hours from potential impact. This is one of several close calls in the past few years.
Plumes of sediment clouded the Gulf of Mexico on November 10, 2009, when NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this photo-like image. Much of the material that colors the water is likely resuspended sediment dredged up from the sea floor in shallow waters. Other sediment was washed into the Gulf by rivers.
Hess LNG is considering construction of an LNG (liquefied natural gas) facility on the Delaware River in Logan Township, New Jersey. BP gave up on siting an LNG facility at this location in 2008 when the state of Delaware would not allow them to extend a dock across the state boundary.
Foraminifera fossils are tiny calcium carbonate shells, as small as a grain of sand. These fossils yield numerous clues about the water depth, water temperature, climate and other environmental conditions present at the time that they were alive.
“At some sites, the annual chance of a flood of this magnitude was so significantly less than 1 in 500 that, given the relatively short length of streamgaging records (well less than 100 years), the U.S. Geological Survey cannot accurately characterize the probability due to its extreme rarity,” A quote from the USGS release by Robert Holmes, USGS National Flood Program Coordinator.
This is a video of a rockslide that blocked Highway 64 near milemarker 17.6 in Polk County, Tennessee. The Tennessee Department of Transportation expects the highway to be closed for at least a week.
The gallery at the Hubble Heritage Project has lots of fantastic images to explore. The site also has an art gallery, information about the project, how the images are composed, and other resources.
“Caves might lie beneath a series of depressions discovered on Mars. These caves could provide shelter for future Mars exploration missions. They could also shed light on whether microbial life forms have ever existed on the “Red Planet.” Quoted from the USGS announcement.
Canada’s oil sands resource is one of the most valuable resources in that country. Many people want to develop it and many others do not. Lisa Raitt, Canadian Natural Resources Minister and her staff are lobbying in the United States to promote development.
The American Geological Institute has released its Government Affairs Program monthly review for October 2009. It has lots of interesting items, a few of which are….
** USGS and ARPA-E Directors Confirmed
** Congress Passes Interior Appropriations, Science Funding on Hold
** Climate Change Legislation Passes Despite Boycott
** Congress Concerned About Access to Domestic Minerals
** Solar R&D Bill Passes House
** Measure Proposes a New Oil and Gas Leasing Agency
** DOI Releases Review of Oil and Gas Leases in Utah
** State Surveys Get $17.79 Million in DOE Geothermal Grants
** NASA Using Airplanes to Make Up For Satellite Gap
** Survey Finds Public More Skeptical of Global Warming
The International Energy Agency has released their “World Energy Outlook”. A few quotes….
“A continuation of current trends in energy use puts the world on track for a rise in temperature of up to 6°C and poses serious threats to global energy security.”
“As one of the consequences of the financial crisis, global energy use is set to fall this year… it will soon resume its upward trend if government policies don’t change… with demand increases by 40% between now and 2030.”
“Containing climate change is possible but will require a profound transformation of the energy sector.”
“Whatever climate policies are introduced, natural gas is set to continue to play a bridging role in meeting the world’s sustainable energy needs.”
The National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for the Geosciences has released: GeoVision Report: Unraveling Earth’s Complexities through the Geosciences. This is a new guidance document for NSF with a theme of fostering a sustainable future through a better understanding of our complex and changing planet.
A certain type of lipid kills the Emiliania huxleyi phytoplankton by causing its cells to self-destruct. A problem with cancer cells is that they do not self-destruct like normal cells. Studying this lipid could therefore be valuable to a number of scientific fields.
What impact will climate change legislation have on the creation of jobs? An article at Bloomberg considers legislation and opinions in the United States Congress.
The Vatican recently hosted a conference that brought scientists and clergy together for the purpose of exploring the possibility of sentient extraterrestrial life. This AOL article reports on the conference and relationships between the Catholic Church and science.
About 30 years ago, oil companies created a brine well beneath an area near Carlsbad, New Mexico. Man-made caverns like this have collapsed nearby, which is causing concern that another collapse may occur.
China is rapidly modernizing, and the country is generating three times as much trash compared to 20 years ago. In some areas the trash is accumulating rapidly, and could become a serious health hazard.
Beyond the Crux constellation lies the “Jewel Box”, a bright cluster of stars. This article includes several images of the cluster, which is also called the Kappa Crucis Cluster or NGC 4755.
Ken Salazar, Secretary of Interior, in a speech at the Great Plains Energy Expo, explained that oil, gas and coal will play a very important role in the energy future of the United States – even while climate initiatives work to increase the use of renewable sources of energy.
The University of Oxford was preparing for a new observatory when they discovered remnants of a prehistoric community. It is believed the site was used by Saxons in the 6th century.
As Tropical Storm Ida approached the Gulf coast energy companies began shutting down drilling platforms and other facilities to avoid damage during the storm.
“Nearby galaxies undergoing a furious pace of star formation also emit lots of gamma rays, say astronomers using NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Two so-called “starburst” galaxies, plus a satellite of our own Milky Way galaxy, represent a new category of gamma-ray-emitting objects detected both by Fermi and ground-based observatories.” Quoted from the NASA release.
Despite a 30 percent population increase during the past 25 years, overall water use in the United States has remained fairly stable. The United States is actually using less water than during the peak years of 1975 and 1980.
High gold prices have fueled the gold rush underway in Alaska. The Fort Knox and Delta Junction mines currently supply the majority of gold from the state, and new, larger mines are being researched.
In the coming weeks, flooding and landslides are predicted to endanger hundreds of thousands of people in Kenya. A large percentage of the people in vulnerable areas are Somali refugees.
Water rationing has been implemented in Caracas because of the drought in Venezuela. For some people living in less urban areas, clean water is limited to begin with, and has to be transported to homes using hoses and barrels.
Tropical Storm Ida is heading to the US Gulf coast where it is expected to dump up to eight inches of heavy rain. A tropical storm warning is in effect from Grand Isle, Louisiana to the Aucilla River of Florida.
Researchers with the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth project are testing the frictional behavior of materials that are known to be in contact along the fault to determine their role in the earthquake mechanics of the fault zone.
In the ranking of the world’s proven oil reserves, Canada stands behind only Saudi Arabia. Canada possesses an estimated 178.6 billion barrels of crude oil accessible using current technology. Of this reserve, 174 billion barrels are in Alberta’s Athabasca oil sand fields.
“The arctic could potentially alter the Earth’s climate by becoming a possible source of global atmospheric carbon dioxide. The arctic now traps or absorbs up to 25 percent of this gas but climate change could alter that amount.” Quoted from the USGS press release.
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Hobart King
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