Lost City Vent
An unusual deep-sea vent may have churned out the first seeds of life.
Tectonics Slowdown
Some researchers think plate tectonics may have come to a stop at different times in the past.
Podcast
Geology Special: glowing diamonds, intermittent plate tectonics and preventing a helium shortage.
Diamond Fingerprinting
Scientists are using phosphorescence to authenticate blue diamonds.
Conserving Helium
Global helium resources are dwindling, and there'll be no substitute if we run out.
Podcast
Space Research Update: the 11-year solar storm cycle returns, the MESSENGER spacecraft reports back from Mercury, and the search for intelligent life in the universe continues with the help of your computer. Also: Unique animal and plant adaptations.
This week's web links:
Space Weather Network: www.swpc.noaa.gov/SWN;
Latest MESSENGER photographs of Mercury: messenger.jhuapl.edu;
Sign up for SETI@Home: setiathome.berkeley.edu
Fuelish Roundup
Low grade, high-sulfur bunker fuel is deadly to wildlife and humans. So why is it still in use?
Podcast
Mysteries of nature: Why do some leaves turn red in the fall? Global warming and the future of rivers. And the music of DNA.
Autumn Color
Fall colors come in several shades. But why the different colors?
Future River Flow
Climate change may alter how rivers flow in the future, and man-made dams could make things worse.
Podcast
A snail hides in plain sight. A high-speed continental collision. And what fossils tell us about future extinctions.
Hot Extinctions
Warmer temperatures have consistently preceded more extinctions throughout Earth's history.
Himalayan Collision
A high-speed continental cataclysm formed the Himalayas 50 million years ago.
Woolly DNA
Woolly mammoths went extinct thousands of years ago. But now their genetic past is being resurrected through new DNA techniques.
Podcast
Whale-inspired windmills. Tracing the origins of a killer asteroid. Using vowels to sell. And more.
Podcast
Counting underwater volcanoes. A new source of antibiotics. Which trees are better at fighting global warming. The power of repeating yourself. And crows that use tools to get food. video
Underwater Volcanoes
A new count reveals hundreds of thousands of undersea volcanoes.
Diamonds and Lasers
A new technique uses diamonds and lasers to squeeze materials to high pressures.
Podcast
The Darfur region has an ancient underground lake, animals navigate with internal compasses, what plants would look like on other planets, why offering too many choices is bad marketing, and why kids have temper tantrums.
Geology Roundup
Africa's splitting apart, and scientists may have found ancient Ithaca.
Podcast
Why you can't remember your babyhood, Africa's pulling apart, how amoebas move, nonsmoking women are more prone to lung cancer than nonsmoking men, and coral reefs are susceptible to global warming.
Podcast
Where insects go in winter, winged dinosaurs, fish that cannibalize their young, calculating the value of polio vaccinaton, and mining can cause earthquakes.
Podcast
Exploring the origins of life, a laser-enhanced satellite for monitoring ozone, why cannibalism is in everyone's blood, a spit-test for sleepiness, and whether identical triplets are possible.
Geo-Gases Roundup
The Oracle of Delphi may have had some geological help in entering her prophetic trance.