• Asteroid collision: How to defend Earth, II

    Asteroid impacts are much rarer than hurricanes and earthquakes, but they have the potential to do much greater damage; moreover, what if an asteroid hits Earth in the Middle East or the Asian subcontinent? Such an event could be misinterpreted as a nuclear attack — both produce a bright flash, a blast wave, and raging winds; the result may be a nuclear war

  • How high is the risk of civilization-killing asteroids?

    Planetary bombardments: scientists at a planets meeting discuss the risks of an asteroid colliding with Earth; researchers are worried about asteroid Apophis, which will come uncomfortably close to Earth on 13 April 2029; one scientist said that “It’s 10 times more likely that an unknown asteroid will slam into us from behind while you’re looking at Apophis”

  • Asteroid collision: How to defend Earth, I

    There are thousands of Near Earth Objects (NEOs) orbiting Earth; some of them are of a civilization-ending size, others are smaller — they will take out “only” a country or a city were they to collide with Earth; scientists say we should focus our minds on this danger

  • Is California's Big One coming?

    In 1992 and in 2004, remote earthquakes caused changes to the San Andreas fault; in both cases, there were distinct changes in the movement of fluids and an increase in the frequency of micro-earthquakes deep within the fault below Parkfield; what will be the effect on the fault of the recent Sumatra earthquake?

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  • Corps asked to scrap floodgate plans in Belle Chasse, Louisiana

    There is a debate in Louisiana about the best way to protect homes in the Jesuit Bend area: the Army Corps of Engineers wants to build a floodgate — but this would leave some 1,400 homes unprotected; residents prefer an 8-mile levee

  • New Orleans storm pumps do not protect city

    The Army Corps of Engineers quickly installed new storm control pumps in New Orleans in the months after Katrina; trouble is, these pumps do not protect the city, the the Corps could have saved $430 million in replacement costs by buying proven equipment

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  • How life will survival in a post-apocalypse blackout

    What if asteroid impacts, massive volcanic eruptions, or large-scale wildfires were to plunge our planet into abnormal darkness” It happened several times in the past; life will continue with a little help from organisms that can switch to another source of energy while they wait for sunlight to pierce the darkness once more

  • Mega-quake could strike near Seattle

    New study shows that two massive tectonic plates colliding 25 miles or so underneath Washington state’s Puget Sound basin; findings suggest that a mega-earthquake could strike closer to the Seattle-Tacoma area, home to some 3.6 million people, than was thought earlier

  • "Active cloak" protects buildings from earthquakes

    Researchers say real objects could be cloaked by active cloaking — which means the technology uses devices that actively generate electromagnetic fields rather than being composed of “metamaterials” (exotic metallic substances) that passively shield objects from passing electromagnetic waves

  • NASA short on funds to keep up with killer asteroids

    NASA is charged with seeking out nearly all the asteroids that threaten Earth; trouble is, it does not have the money to do the job

  • Universities, businesses offer solutions for dealing with hurricanes

    Three universities are busy offering solutions which better predict hurricanes and cope with the damage they cause; a Bill Gates-supported company is more ambitious: it proposes to kill hurricanes by placing giant ocean-going tubs in the paths of storms

  • Predicting hurricanes

    Researchers developed a new computer model that they hope will predict with unprecedented accuracy how many hurricanes will occur in a given season

  • Using cell phones to predict floods

    Researchers show that variations in microwave transmissions, specifically those used to connect up cell towers, can be used to measure humidity and thus predict flooding

  • New type of El Niño may mean more hurricanes make landfall

    The form of El Niño may be changing potentially causing not only a greater number of hurricanes than in average years, but also a greater chance of hurricanes making landfall

  • Rat-like rescue robot uses whiskers to feel its way through rubble

    Researchers developed rat-like robot which can crawl through — and under — rubble in search for victims trapped under collapsed buildings; robot uses long plastic whiskers at the side of its head to detect objects and radio back to a control center