Category Archives: Science News

Mount Saint Helens, 30 years later

Posted on May 26, 2010 by dallen

Mount Saint Helens erupted in a colossal explosion 30 years ago, on May 18, 1980 (incidentally, exactly a week before my little sister was born). The eruption was so great that the entire northern side of the mountain was blasted … Continue reading →

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Duck species declared extinct

Posted on May 26, 2010 by dallen

The Alaotra grebe, a kind of duck that lived only in Madagascar, has been officially declared extinct. From The Telegraph: The grebe was wiped out by habitat destruction, by the introduction of a carnivorous fish called the snakehead murrel and … Continue reading →

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Sopping up oil with hair and pantyhose?

Posted on May 6, 2010 by dallen

We talked about some of the solutions BP is considering for trying to slow and eventually stop the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. But apparently one of the best materials to sop up oil is human hair. Just like birds … Continue reading →

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Letter writing

Posted on May 5, 2010 by dallen

If you are planning to write a letter to President Obama or BP CEO Anthony Hayward, consider these tips for writing an effective letter: 1) Handwrite it (unless your handwriting is hard to read). 2) Start by being polite/respectful 3) … Continue reading →

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Deepwater Horizon

Posted on May 3, 2010 by dallen

Image source (and another interesting article!): Gather.com Image source (and lots more incredible photos!): Boston.com The oil spill at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is truly an environmental disaster. It will likely ravage the coastal environment of all of the … Continue reading →

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Guest post: Brennan

Posted on April 23, 2010 by dallen

Brennan writes: Hi, I found an amazing video of a a solar eruption in the sun. I saw it on CNN. Apparently NASA had taken the video. I thought it might be a cool video to post on the blog. … Continue reading →

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Iceland volcano may last months or even years!

Posted on April 23, 2010 by dallen

I’ve been slow to put up a post about the Icelandic volcano because the story keeps getting more interesting; every time I start a post, I hear a new interesting story about it and put it off! As we’ve discussed … Continue reading →

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Earthquake update

Posted on April 20, 2010 by dallen

Since my last post about earthquakes, there’s been another major earthquake, this time a 6.9 quake in China. It happened last Wednesday, and like the Haiti quake, there was a great deal of damage because it hit a relatively poor … Continue reading →

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Middle school boy discovers new species of human ancestor!

Posted on April 20, 2010 by dallen

Okay, it’s not new–the fossil is estimated to be nearly 2 million years old, but 11-year-old Matthew Berger found it just two years ago. From the New York Times: Matthew held the ancient remains of a 4-foot-2 boy who had … Continue reading →

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New lizard species identified!

Posted on April 8, 2010 by dallen

It’s called a Northern Sierra Madre Forest Monitor Lizard From the Reuters news service: “A dragon-sized, fruit-eating lizard that lives in the trees on the northern Philippines island of Luzon has been confirmed as a new species, scientists reported on … Continue reading →

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