THE NEW YORK TIMES - In six billion years the sun will expand into a red giant. That process should consume Mercury, and maybe Venus. For a long time we have thought it might incinerate Earth, too. But perhaps all is not doomed for planet Earth (although it may be a world that will have...
FRONTIERS - Scientists from the US measured the relative amounts of ‘bioreactive’ iron in four sediment cores from the bottom of the Atlantic. They showed for the first time that the further dust is blown from the Sahara, the more iron in it becomes bioreactive through chemical processes in the atmosphere. These results have important...
THE NEW YORK TIMES - The snow-blanketed peaks, fishing holes and cool alpine air of the San Bernardino Mountains have beckoned Southern Californians for generations. As far back as the 1880s, travelers braved a 6,000-foot climb in horse-drawn carriages to reach the pine forests that now surround the resort towns of Lake Arrowhead and Big...
THE MERCURY NEWS - Climate change didn’t light the match, but it likely set the stage for the Airport, Bridge and Line fires to burn fiercely and aggressively throughout Southern California, say academics and the head of an environmental group. As of Friday afternoon, Sept. 13, the three blazes had consumed more than 113,000 acres...
THE U.S. SUN - Scientists have created a 3D illustration charting a list of nearby stars that may be hosting "habitable" alien worlds. They used data from Nasa's Chandra X-ray Observatory to identify these planets. It involved finding stars that are close enough to Earth that we could use future telescopes to take images of...
LIVE SCIENCE - NASA's Chandra X-ray space telescope has created a three-dimensional map of stars close to the sun that may help astronomers search for alien planets that could host life. The map created by Chandra — which just celebrated 25 years in orbit but is facing a troubling budget crunch — could inform scientists...
LOS ANGELES TIMES - Five years ago, Lisa Clark and her husband left her hometown of El Centro for Niland, a small town of 500, in search for more affordable housing. But now they’re paying a hidden cost for living just two miles southeast of the Salton Sea. “I’ve been having very bad asthma lately,”...
NATURE - The monstrous fires that are now charring vast areas of western North America aren’t just colossal and fast-moving, they have also created their own thunderstorms — an example of exotic fire behavior that scientists say is becoming more common as the climate changes. Both the Park Fire, which has burnt more than 160,000...
DISCOVER MAGAZINE - Beyond Earth's blue skies stretches a universe full of possibilities, including countless stars with planets that might support life. While Earth is the only known host of life, astronomers have identified several exoplanets that could potentially support it. "An exoplanet is a planet that orbits a star other than our Sun,” explains...
THE DESERT SUN - Humidity, hot winds and the decaying Salton Sea have long been been a recipe for nostril and stomach misery during the summer across large swaths of the eastern Coachella Valley. But now, an analysis of 20 years worth of records by a UC Riverside laboratory shows a disturbing new trend: The...