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Unexpectedly rapid melting of polar ice and glaciers between 2005 and 2011 caused a rise in global sea levels of another 2/3rds of an inch, according to a study just published in Nature Geoscience. Increased water pressure against continental shelves is known to lead to destabilization of faults as well as compression of magma deposits under volcanoes, and is related to increased seismic and volcanic activity. So far, sea levels have now risen 8 1/3rd inches worldwide since 1870, with the rate of annual increase steadily rising. At the same time, the amount of volcanic and earthquake activity around the Pacific Rim appears to have begun to increase as well. As ice melts, the balance of weight on the earth changes, releasing weight from melt areas and moving it into the oceans.read more

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Asteroid 2013 LR6 will pass within 70,000 miles of Earth tonight, making its closest approach over Tasmania at 9:42 Pacific Time. The asteroid is 30 feet in diameter and NASA says it has no chance of striking our planet. What is a matter for concern, though, is that it was just discovered two days ago, on June 6. The discovery was made by NASA’s Catalina Sky Survey. The fact that it is not going to strike Earth is a matter largely of chance, and its discovery such a short time ago is an indication of how urgently NASA needs funding for a much more extensive near earth asteroid identification program.
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Being constantly bombarded with bad news, it’s hard to remember that we live in a world of wonders, and science promises real miracles ahead. A visitor once said to a close encounter witness, ‘we rearrange atoms.’ This would be the most powerful scientific tool ever created, literally like magic. The ability to rearrange atoms would mean that we could design entirely new materials or change one thing into another, reconstructing our world to fit our needs in ways that are now beyond imagination. But the process is not so far beyond imagination. As this video from IBM demonstrates, it is becoming possible to manipulate single atoms.read more

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A direct hit from an ejection of charged particles from the sun could be among the most serious of natural disasters, NASA head Charles Bolden warned Tuesday. Bolden spoke before scientists and industry members at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum, which was held at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Auditorium and Science Center in Silver Spring, Md. A few days later, a huge hole opened up in the sun’s corona, raising the possibility that major solar storms could take place in the next few days.
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