A new study reveals the atmospheric paths of storm events that can deliver a decade’s worth of rain in a few hours to the Atacama Desert.
Chile
Posted inNews
Settlement of Rapa Nui May Have Been Doomed by a Dearth of Dust
Rapa Nui and Hawai‘i offer a tale of two island settlements: Hawai‘i was close enough to Asia for continental dust to help replenish soil nutrients depleted by agriculture. Rapa Nui wasn’t.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Understanding Tremors Through Tree Rings
Researchers look to carbon isotopes and cell-level wood anatomy to understand how seismic-induced changes in water availability affect tree growth.
Posted inNews
Glassy Nodules Pinpoint a Meteorite Impact
Researchers working in Chile’s Atacama Desert have collected thousands of “atacamaites” that suggest a meteorite struck the region roughly 8 million years ago.
Posted inOpinions
Chile’s Glacier Protection Law Needs Grounding in Sound Science
In the works for more than a decade, proposed legislation to protect glacial and permafrost environments in Chile suffers from uncertainties and omissions that could sow conflict instead of solutions.
Posted inNews
Making the Universe Blurrier
Climate change appears to be directly and indirectly affecting the view from at least one observatory while threatening the existence of others.
Posted inScience Updates
Using Earthquake Forensics to Study Subduction from Space
Researchers combined satellite geodetic measurements of surface motion with a new geophysical data inversion method to probe the Chilean subduction zone in the wake of the 2010 Maule earthquake.
Posted inNews
Niveles Altos de Contaminación en Chile se Relacionan Con Parrilladas de Hinchas del Fútbol
Misteriosos picos de contaminación—10 veces más altos que los niveles normales—ocurren en Santiago durante los partidos de fútbol televisados y son causados por decenas de miles de parrilladas, revelan nuevos resultados.
Posted inNews
Desert Microbes Mine for Water
Scientists studying a cyanobacterium isolated from rock samples in the Atacama Desert found out how the bacteria extract water to live. Their results may help identify likely sites for life on Mars.
Posted inNews
Pollution Spikes in Chile Tied to Soccer Fans’ Barbecuing
In Santiago, mysterious pollution spikes—tenfold above normal levels—occur during televised soccer matches and are caused by tens of thousands of barbecues, new results reveal.