Research Spotlights Archives - Page 2 of 156

A glacier cascades down the side of a mountain along the left side of this photograph. In the foreground is a shallow glacial lake that transitions from clear to icy blue and has numerous pebbles and smooth rocks strewn along the bottom. The sky is bright blue but shielded by low hanging clouds.

Research Spotlights

Models Oversimplify How Melting Glaciers Deform Land

by Saima May Sidik 7 September 20227 September 2022

When glaciers melt, the land below deforms. Sea level data show that widely used models oversimplify the process.

Side-by-side images show fish-eye-style photographs of a starry evening sky illuminated by different subauroral events. The left image shows a SAR arc, a reddish arc that spans the sky. Beneath the arc the sky transitions from bright green at the horizon to purple and is partially obscured by clouds. The right image shows a STEVE phenomenon. Part of the red SAR arc is still visible but is much fainter and more of a pink color than its original red. The green and purple sky is more muted in color, and more stars and the band of the Milky Way are now visible. In both images, the silhouette of some shrubs is visible.

Research Spotlights

From SAR Arc to STEVE: An Atmospheric Evolution

by Alexandra K. Scammell 6 September 20227 September 2022

A new study reports the first observation of a stable auroral red arc evolving into a strong thermal emission velocity enhancement during a geomagnetic storm.

A small coastal shipping town in Japan is devastated by an earthquake. In this photo taken from a plane, the wreckage of hundreds of buildings can be seen, and only a handful remain standing. In the center of the image, a small yacht is perched on top of one of the only remaining buildings. The town is surrounded by mountains and forests. One of the plane’s wheels is visible in the lower left corner of the image.

Research Spotlights

Months of Gravity Changes Preceded the Tōhoku Earthquake

by Sarah Derouin 1 September 20221 September 2022

Using GRACE satellite data, researchers discovered anomalous gravimetric signals that occurred before a seismic event that started deep within Earth.

The inside of the KamLAND antineutrino detector comprises a grid of tessellated segments, parallelograms and trapezoids, that fit together to form a sphere. Each segment of the detector, which is black, has 16 sensors, which are gold, arranged in a 4 by 4 pattern. Each segment is connected by a white border. At the center of the detector, and image, is a green circle.

Research Spotlights

Estimating Uranium and Thorium Abundance with Geoneutrinos

by Morgan Rehnberg 31 August 202231 August 2022

Terrestrial electron antineutrino observations provide new constraints on the contributions of radiogenic heat in the mantle.

A boy in a striped t-shirt and shorts steers a long, narrow, and shallow boat with a long pole across a shallow body of water. The boat is laden with rocks. In the background is a marshland with a small group of people and a few tents, and beyond that are forests and mountains. One patch of forest on the right side of the mountains has been stripped bare by a past landslide.

Research Spotlights

Bangladeshis Feel Increased Consequences of Sedimentation

by Saima May Sidik 30 August 202230 August 2022

In northern Bangladesh, residents are losing their livelihoods, homes, and personal safety when water carries sand and gravel into their communities.

Research Spotlights

光纤技术为滑坡监测开辟新领域

by Aaron Sidder 30 August 202230 August 2022

为了研究中国三峡水库沿线的一处滑坡，研究人员在现场布设了光纤传感器，来监测地下温度、湿度和应变。

A thermal image of coastline shows plant evaporative stress in varying shades of red and green. Waterways in black snake through the mangrove forest, becoming narrower toward the top of the image. Land that touches or is near a waterway tends to have low evaporative stress and shows up as bright green, whereas areas farther inland indicate high evaporative stress and appear red.

Research Spotlights

Optimizing Competing Instrument Needs with an Objective Metric

by Morgan Rehnberg 29 August 202229 August 2022

Intrinsic dimensionality can quantify the level of information obtainable for various possible instrument configurations.

A copper mine delves deep into the orange rock of an Arizona desert. More than a dozen even steps have been excavated leading down to a roughly circular depression in the ground. Some of the steps have patches of oxidized copper, a blue-green color. A smooth path large enough for heavy machinery spirals down into the bottom of the mine.

Research Spotlights

Machine Learning Could Revolutionize Mineral Exploration

by Aaron Sidder 26 August 202223 September 2022

Using a global data set of zircon trace elements, new research demonstrates the power of machine learning algorithms to accurately identify and locate porphyry copper deposits.

Una persona bajando su cabeza con el Sol poniéndose en el fondo.

Research Spotlights

Los efectos del cambio climático en las tasas de suicidio en los EE.UU.

by Alexandra K. Scammell 26 August 202226 August 2022

La incidencia del suicidio podría incrementarse hasta a 1660 casos anuales, dependiendo de qué tanto cambie el clima.

Snow-covered peaks line the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau.

Research Spotlights

Uncovering the Formation of the Western Nepal Embayment

by Sarah Derouin 24 August 202224 August 2022

Using thermokinematics, researchers have found that crustal accretion along the megathrust at mid-lower crustal depths shapes plateau growth and regional drainage development.

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