NASA Sees the End of Tropical Depression 29W

Born from the remnants of Tropical Cyclone 28W, Tropical Depression 29W only lasted a few days before it began rapidly decaying. NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite found the disorganized storm weakening over the Malay Peninsula.

NASA's IMERG Adds Up Heavy Rainfall from Tropical Storm Damrey

Using a fleet of satellites, NASA calculated the heavy rainfall in Vietnam left by Typhoon Damrey at the beginning of November.

We Should Use Central Pressure Deficit, Not Wind Speed, To Predict Hurricane Damage

The system for categorizing hurricanes accounts only for peak wind speeds, but research published in Nature Communications explains why central pressure deficit is a better indicator of economic damage from storms in the United States.

Huge Carbon Sink Exists in Soil Minerals WSU Researcher Finds

A Washington State University researcher has discovered that vast amounts of carbon can be stored by soil minerals more than a foot below the surface. The finding could help offset the rising greenhouse-gas emissions helping warm the Earth’s climate.

Eyes on the Coast—Video Cameras Help Forecast Coastal Change

Coastal communities count on beaches for recreation and for protection from large waves, but beaches are vulnerable to threats such as erosion by storms and flooding. Whether beaches grow, shrink, or even disappear depends in part on what happens just offshore. How do features like shifting sandbars affect waves, currents, and the movement of sand from the beach to offshore and back?

Chemists develop method to quickly screen, identify fentanyl and other drugs of abuse

Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new drug screening technique that could lead to the rapid and accurate identification of fentanyl, as well as a vast number of other drugs of abuse, which up until now have been difficult to detect by traditional urine tests.

The method, outlined in the current edition of the journal Analytical Chemistry, addresses a serious public health emergency related to opioid addiction and unintentional overdose deaths: the lack of a reliable and inexpensive test that allows for comprehensive surveillance of synthetic drugs flooding the illegal market.

Hot News from the Antarctic Underground

Study Bolsters Theory of Heat Source Under West Antarctica

A new NASA study adds evidence that a geothermal heat source called a mantle plume lies deep below Antarctica's Marie Byrd Land, explaining some of the melting that creates lakes and rivers under the ice sheet.

NASA Tracking Atlantic's Tropical Storm Rina

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite has been providing forecasters with imagery of Tropical Storm Rina as it moves north through the Central Atlantic Ocean.

Powering Saturn's Active Ocean Moon

Heat from friction could power hydrothermal activity on Saturn's moon Enceladus for billions of years if the moon has a highly porous core, according to a new modeling study by European and U.S. researchers working on NASA's Cassini mission.

The study, published today in the journal Nature Astronomy, helps resolve a question scientist have grappled with for a decade:  Where does the energy to power the extraordinary geologic activity on Enceladus come from?

With Climate Change, Mount Rainier Floral Communities Could 'Reassemble' With New Species Relationships, Interactions

Central to the field of ecology is the mantra that species do not exist in isolation: They assemble in communities — and within these communities, species interact. Predators hunt prey. Parasites exploit hosts. Pollinators find flowers.