Why does NOAA no longer provide sunshine data?
Data & AnalysisWhere Did All the Sunshine Go? Why You Can’t Find That Data Anymore Remember flipping through weather reports and seeing the hours of sunshine listed? It was a simple, easy-to-grasp metric. But lately, finding that sunshine duration data feels like chasing a ghost. NOAA, the folks we usually rely on for this kind of info,
Exploring the Regional Geology of Your Local Landscape
General Knowledge & EducationDigging Deep: Getting to Know the Geology in Your Own Backyard (San Francisco Bay Area Edition) Ever stop to think about what’s really under your feet? I mean, beyond the sidewalk or that patch of grass? The ground we walk on has a story to tell, a story etched in stone (literally!) over billions of
How are data from tiltmeters used to monitor volcanic activity?
Data & AnalysisTiltmeters: Listening to What Volcanoes Don’t Say Volcanoes. Majestic, awe-inspiring, but let’s face it, also a bit scary. Living near one means living with the constant possibility of an eruption. That’s why predicting when a volcano might blow its top is so vital, and scientists have developed some pretty cool tools to help them do
Why is “at least a small tilt” between rotation and magnetic axis required by models of magnetic field formation?
Natural EnvironmentsThe Wobbling Dynamo: Why Planets Can’t Have Perfectly Straight Magnetic Fields Ever wonder how Earth manages to shrug off the constant barrage of solar wind? A big part of the answer is our magnetic field, a kind of invisible force field that protects our atmosphere and, well, us. But how does a planet get a
The Dehydration Effect: How Water Loss Drives Crystallization in Felsic Magmas
Geology & LandformThe Dehydration Effect: How Water Loss Drives Crystallization in Felsic Magmas Magma – that molten rock simmering beneath our feet – it’s not just a simple liquid. Think of it more like a complicated soup, a bubbling brew of liquid rock, crystals, and dissolved gases. And what happens in this soup dictates whether a volcano