A new study repurposes telecommunications cables to harness sound from light. The method can accurately measure ground motion from distant earthquakes.
Hazards & Disasters
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Drilling into a Future Earthquake
Researchers drill into a fault that is anticipated to rupture in coming decades to study fault structure and earthquake physics.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Novel Way to Track Magma Flow
Sparse seismic data can accurately predict volcanic eruptions.
Posted inNews
Ozone Pollution Maps Show Spikes Amid Broad Declines
Exceptionally comprehensive new maps detail current global concentrations and 15-year trends.
Posted inScience Updates
Monitoring Tropical Cyclones with Lightning and Satellite Data
A new storm-following tool continually watches for lightning over the open ocean. Combined with satellite microwave data, the new real-time observations will improve forecasts of tropical cyclones.
Posted inEditors' Vox
The Challenges of Drought Prediction
Advances in dynamical modeling and the use of hybrid methods have improved drought prediction, but challenges still remain to improve the accuracy of drought forecasting.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
California’s Water Savings Dwindle When Drought Fears Subside
Policy changes and media attention affect how much water Californians use, as well as how long these behaviors prevail. Could public awareness shift behaviors toward long-term conservation?
Posted inResearch Spotlights
More Earthquakes May Be the Result of Fracking Than We Thought
Scientists show small earthquakes caused by fracking near Guy-Greenbrier, Ark., in 2010 that could have been early indicators of high stress levels on larger faults deeper underground.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Exploring How Space Weather Can Damage Power Grids
A new model of geomagnetically induced currents revisits how space weather damaged a New Zealand grid transformer in 2001, and shows how much worse it could be in a space weather superstorm.
Posted inNews
Damage Assessment by Laser Could Focus Postearthquake Response
Airborne lidar surveys taken before and after a powerful 2016 earthquake in Japan revealed the potential for such surveys to identify hard-hit buildings quickly.