29 million people in the northeastern United States are currently under a blizzard warning. That means 29 million people are being warned off the roads, desperately crowding grocery stores to buy bread and milk, and preparing for the inevitable arguments that will arise when the entire family is trapped together in the house for days at a time.
A major storm is about to dump between one and three feet of snow on the Northeast region over the next few days. This image, captured by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite GOES 13, shows the beginning stages of the storm on Monday morning.
Sometimes Iceland really lives up to its name. For instance, in the picture above, the entire country is basically covered in snow and ice. With one notable exception. See that big black dot in the middle? No, not in the lower left--that's the largest natural lake in Iceland, Lake Þingvallavatn, which is a favorite for snorkelers and scuba divers. We're talking about the beauty mark in the center-right, which is an absolutely massive lava flow originating from a fissure of the volcano Bárðarbunga.
If there are enough clear summer days in a row, Bye Aerospace's Sun Flyer may just live up to its name and charge in sunlight. Bye just sold twenty of their distinctive training airplanes to the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology. If the Sun Flyers take off, they could signal a future of more sustainable flying.
When it launches on January 29, a new satellite's mission will be simple: to measure one of the most important but least recognized sources of water on Earth. NASA's SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) will measure soil moisture across the globe. That may seem like a simple enough concept, but its findings could have a huge impact, from preventing droughts and the spread of disease, to predicting the effects of climate change.
The lights of the aurora borealis are often described as “dancing,” since they fluctuate in shape and brightness. Inside, the charged particles that generate the aurora dance too, and scientists are still trying to figure out exactly how that movement is structured.