Scientists to Use Unmanned Drones for Hurricane Research
Scientists are going to use unmanned drones - previously used in war zones - for hurricane research. A drone equipped with weather sensors will monitor potential hurricane activity in the Atlantic Ocean as we head into the peak part of the season. Hurricane researchers hope the data gleamed from the drones could help hurricane intensity forecasts improve. Take a look:
The Boston Heraldreports that a pea was discovered sprouting in the windpipe of Ron Sveden, a 75-year-old man from Massachusetts. Physicians first thought Sveden was suffering from a cancerous tumor. Tested samples from a biopsy indicated that the spot seen on an X-ray was a plant and not a tumor. The pea plant was removed with surgery by doctors at Cape Cod Hospital. Take a look:
Study Links Airplanes to Hole-Punch Cloud Phenomenon
Sightings of holes punched in clouds have triggered the public's interest for many years. A hole over Moscow generated numerous headlines in October, 2009. Here is a video of the Moscow hole in the sky.
A study, being published this month in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, says these holes in the sky are caused by aircraft. The research found that as aircraft climb or descend under certain atmospheric conditions, they can inadvertently seed mid-level clouds and cause narrow bands of snow or rain to develop and fall to the ground. This seeding process can leave behind odd-shaped holes or channels in the clouds, which are known as hole-punch clouds. The study says the key ingredient for developing these holes in the clouds are water droplets at subfreezing temperatures, below about -15 degrees Celsius.
"Any time aircraft fly through these specific conditions, they are altering the clouds in a way that can result in enhanced precipitation nearby," says Andrew Heymsfield, a scientist with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the lead author of the new study. "Just by flying an airplane through these clouds, you could produce as much precipitation as with seeding materials along the same path in the cloud."
Heymsfield says precipitation from planes may be particularly common in regions such as the Pacific Northwest and western Europe, because of the frequent occurrence of cloud layers with supercooled droplets.
You can read more about the new hole-punch cloud study here and here.
AP's Rich Matthews Goes Scuba Diving in BP Oil Spill
AP journalist Rich Matthews got a close-up look at the BP oil spill by joining a dive team that explored how the oil is impacting the Gulf of Mexico.
I make my way to the back of the boat unaware of just how covered I am. To be honest, I look a little like one of those poor pelicans we've all been seeing for days now. The oil is so thick and sticky, almost like a cake batter. It does not wipe off. You have to scrape it off, in layers until you finally get close to the skin. Then you pour on some Dawn dishwashing soap and scrub. I think to myself: No fish, no bird, no turtle would ever be able to clean this off of themselves. If any animal, any were to end up in this same puddle there is almost no way they could escape.
University of Victoria Campus Home to Thousands of Rabbits
The Montreal Gazettereports that there is a series bunny problem at the University of Victoria. There are estimated to be 1,500 to 2,000 feral rabbits living happily on the campus grounds. University officials claim the rabbits have inflicted $100,000 worth of damage over the last three years. Some students think the university is secretly plotting to kill the bunnies.
Leaders of the protect-the-bunnies movement claim the university is secretly killing rabbits at night and that there are "poison boxes" on the grounds. Bunny supporters claim that officials have only paid lip-service to trap and sterilize programs as they always regarded a massive slaughter as the final solution.
"The University of Victoria has been for years conducting a misinformation campaign in order to justify their killing of abandoned domestic rabbits on campus," said animal rights activist Roslyn Cassells.
"Betrayal is the order of the day at the University of Victoria, where a large-scale nighttime shooting of over 1,000 abandoned pet rabbits is imminent," Cassells said in a recent e-mail to the media.
Here is a short video of some of the rabbits that live on the campus.
NASA's twin Stereo spacecraft Behind and Ahead captured rare footage of the Sun erupting over a 30 hour period. The footage is from September 26-27, 2009. Take a look:
A recently discovered Cretaceous mammal called maotherium is a chipmunk-sized nocturnal mammal that lived 123 million years ago. The chipmunk-sized creature had terrestrial habits and scampered around on the ground. Maotherium weighed about 2 ounces and was 15 cm (5 inches) in length. Scientists say the tiny creature is revealing more about how mammal's complex ear bones evolved.
Photo: Mark A. Klingler/Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Here is some video footage of the tsunami from Tuesday's powerful magnitude 8.0 earthquake near American Samoa. The earthquake created a tsunami in the Somoas that flattened villages and swept cars and people out to sea. The tsunami hit in the middle of the harbor of the capital of Pago Pago. CNN has some photographs of the damage here. Take a look:
The Weather Channel captures amazing footage of a fast-moving twister in Wyoming. One of the videos lets you look up into the funnel of a tornado - this part is around 14 seconds into the clip.
The Wall Street Journal's Matthew Rose reports in the video below that bamboo has become a huge problem in Hillsboro, Virginia. A type of bamboo called running bamboo can be as problematic as kudzu. It grows extremely quickly and spread rapidly.
Lava from Mount Kilauea in Hawaii is flowing into the Pacific ocean. Reuters reports that lava from the Kilauea volcano began flowing into the Pacific ocean on March 6th. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world continued to erupt. Reuters says Kilauea has erupted 34 times since 1952. The USGS has a special page about Mount Kilauea here. Below is a video from Reuters showing the recent lava flow and an embedded map from Google showing Mount Kilauea's location.
The Mola Mola Can Gain Over 60 Million Times Its Birthweight
This Mola Mola or Ocean Sunfish is one of the largest and stangest animals found in the sea. The Mola Mola is the world's largest bony fish. As the National Geographic video below describes it - the Mola Mola looks like a "massive swimming head." The Mola Mola can weigh up to 4,000 pounds. It can gain over sixty million times its birthweight. For more on this strange fish check out the listings on Fishbase.org, OceanLight.com and Wikipedia. The Ocean Sunfish website also has lots of facts, photos and news.
Grim Reports From Gizo in Solomon Islands Following Tsunami
A Sydney Morning Heraldstory reports that there has been considerable destruction in Gizo, a popular diving tourism destination, from the tsunami that resulted from the 8.0 earthquake near the Solomon Islands. There are people injured, people missing and some "2000 and 3000 homeless" according to one person cited in the article.
The country's Prime Minister's office reports that at least six people have been killed and several are missing as "10-metre-high waves continue to crash [on] coastal villages".
Reports from police at Gizo - the capital of the western province and a popular destination for divers - said water now completely covered the lower areas of the town, while waves continued to pound the nearby towns of Noro and Munda.
About 50 homes in Gizo - just 45 kilometres from the centre of the quake - had reportedly been flattened and boats had been washed into the town.
There were reports that large waves had penetrated 500 metres inland, wiping out villages.
This report is just from Gizo. Damage and fatalities from the earthquake and from tsunamis has also been reported in other parts of the Solomon Islands and in Papa New Guinea.
This image of the Sun was taken with NASA's Stereo's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager. NASA's Stereo orbiters are studying the Sun as this BBC article describes.
The Stereo orbiters, which are nearing their final positions, will study violent solar eruptions known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs).
CMEs hurl energetic particles at Earth that can disrupt power grids and satellite communications.
Stereo will give scientists information they need to forecast "space weather".
The new panoramic views, which stretch from the Sun to the Earth, are created by combining images from a suite of telescopes onboard the two spacecraft. Their data will allow scientists to track "solar fronts".
Seattle's KING5.com is reporting that some strange mystery dust in the form of an "ash-like powder" has been coating the vehicles and homes of Pugent Sound residents.
"We've never seen anything like this," said David Creed.
About 30 miles away, residents in Lake Marcel north of Carnation awoke Sunday to the fine powder blanketing the neighborhood.
"Living out here in 40 years, I've never seen anything like it," said Beth Marcey.
"Kind of volcanic. It reminded me of when Mount St. Helens blew," said Bey Braun.
Above all, it has everyone scratching their heads.
So what is it tree pollen? A very thin layer of Volcanic ash? Pugent Sound residents want to know. KING5's article also has a link to a video from KING5 that provides a much better look at the dust.
Seattle's KING5.com is 
