According to the weekly report of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program, gas-and-ash plumes rose nearly one mile above the crater of Mexico’s Popocatépetl volcano from April 25 to 27. On April 28 incandescent fragments ejected from the crater and landed on the east flank of the volcano, traveling as far as one-half mile. On May [...] [...more]
Restless volcano. This Feb. 10 satellite radar image shows the summit of Alaska’s Cleveland Volcano and a new lava dome within the volcano’s summit crater (which is about 200 meters across). The weekly bulletin of the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program reports elevated surface temperatures consistent with such a lava dome were detected in the crater [...] [...more]
Olivine is the most common mineral in Earth’s upper mantle. This olivine crystal from the mid-ocean ridge in the Pacific contains tiny bits of volcanic glass, a sample of the liquid rock the crystal grew from. Smithsonian scientists are interested in the composition of this glass, which includes dissolved water. From [...] [...more]
New images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft show the moon's crust is being stretched, forming minute valleys in a few small areas on the lunar surface. [...more]
A mysterious cycle of booms and busts in marine biodiversity over the past 500 million years could be tied to a periodic uplifting of the world's continents, scientists report [...more]
The new island visible in the satellite photograph is the top of a giant shield volcano located on the rift axis in the Red Sea where the continental plates of Africa and Arabia are pulling apart. [...more]
Richard Wunderman is managing editor of the Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network and a geologist in the Division of Mineral Sciences at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Following the earthquake that rumbled across the East Coast of the United States on Aug. 23, Smithsonianscience.org asked Wunderman a few questions about earthquakes and [...] [...more]
Scientists from the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center have found that fledgling catbirds living in the suburbs are extremely vulnerable. Almost 80 percent are killed by predators before they reach adulthood. Nearly half of the deaths are connected to domestic cats. The team studied catbird nests in 3 suburban neighborhoods in Maryland: Spring Park, Opal Daniels Park, and Bethesda. Learn more about this 2011 study by clicking here. (Catbird photo by Gerhard Hofmann)
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