http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Typhoon Songda was east of the Philippines when the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite had an early evening view on May 25, 2011 at 0903 UTC (05:03 EDT) and saw good organization within the storm and heavy rainfall. Songda has intensified into a major typhoon as it tracks parallel to the east coast of the northern Philippines, spawning warnings. http://phys.org/news225561732.html Space & Earth Wed, 25 May 2011 17:02:27 EST news225561732 Australian meteorologists on Wednesday declared La Nina, the disruptive weather pattern behind floods and cyclones that brought death and destruction this year, to have ended. http://phys.org/news225548679.html Space & Earth Wed, 25 May 2011 13:50:01 EST news225548679 La Nina, the disruptive weather pattern behind floods and droughts, is easing and there are no signs suggesting a resurgence in the coming months, the UN weather agency said on Monday. http://phys.org/news225369348.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:06 EST news225369348 Several powerful storms will likely strike the US mainland this hurricane season, especially in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico region, a prominent weather forecaster said. http://phys.org/news223094828.html Space & Earth Wed, 27 Apr 2011 04:00:01 EST news223094828 (PhysOrg.com) -- The hottest stars in the universe spin so fast that they get a bit squished at their poles and dimmer around their middle. The 90-year-old theory that predicts the extent of this "gravity darkening" phenomenon has major flaws, according to a new study led by University of Michigan astronomers. http://phys.org/news222346769.html Space & Earth Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:59:43 EST news222346769 The Antarctic Peninsula has warmed rapidly for the last half-century or more, and recent studies have shown that an adjacent area, continental West Antarctica, has steadily warmed for at least 30 years, but scientists haven't been sure why. http://phys.org/news221659536.html Space & Earth Sun, 10 Apr 2011 13:05:58 EST news221659536 Last year's record hurricane season will be followed by another unusually busy one, with 16 named storms expected this year, US weather forecasters predicted on Wednesday. http://phys.org/news221314772.html Space & Earth Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:40:01 EST news221314772 The 2011 Arctic sea ice extent maximum that marks the beginning of the melt season appears to be tied for the lowest ever measured by satellites, say scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder's National Snow and Ice Data Center. http://phys.org/news220183280.html Space & Earth Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:01:33 EST news220183280 (PhysOrg.com) -- The search for habitable planets similar to Earth has routinely focused around active nuclear burning stars. However, in a recently published paper by Eric Agol from the University of Washington, the idea to expand the search to white dwarfs shows promise. http://phys.org/news220022435.html Space & Earth Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:21:15 EST news220022435 (PhysOrg.com) -- Converting large swaths of farmland to perennial grasses for biofuels could lower regional surface temperatures, according to a recent Stanford study. http://phys.org/news219061514.html Space & Earth Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:25:37 EST news219061514 A panel of scientists speaking today at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) unveiled new research and models demonstrating how climate change could increase exposure and risk of human illness originating from ocean, coastal and Great Lakes ecosystems, with some studies projecting impacts to be felt within 30 years. http://phys.org/news217349431.html Space & Earth Sat, 19 Feb 2011 14:50:46 EST news217349431 Now a remnant low pressure area, former Tropical Storm Carlos continues to move southwest inland over Australia's Northern Territory and dump heavy amounts of rainfall. NASA's Aqua satellite saw some of the high thunderstorms within Carlos over land and extending north into the Timor Sea. http://phys.org/news217188028.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:03:56 EST news217188028 A low pressure area located a couple of hundred miles northwest of Western Australia appears in a better position for development into a tropical cyclone according to infrared NASA satellite imagery. Infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite shows some strong convection in the low, named System 96S. http://phys.org/news216580985.html Space & Earth Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:10:02 EST news216580985 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study of an ocean sediment core taken from deep water off the coast of the western Antarctic Peninsula is beginning to fill in some of the gaps in our knowledge of climate variability in the region. http://phys.org/news216547952.html Space & Earth Thu, 10 Feb 2011 08:12:55 EST news216547952 NASA's Aqua Satellite captured a visible image of the former Tropical Storm Anthony, now weakened to a tropical depression, but forecasters aren't counting Anthony out yet. Despite its weakened condition Anthony continues to move west toward Queensland, Australia and into a more favorable area for sustaining a tropical cyclone. http://phys.org/news215270544.html Space & Earth Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:22:34 EST news215270544 The last thing that Queensland, Australia needs is more rainfall after the record-breaking flooding that has been occurring there in the last two months. Now, NASA's Aqua satellite has noticed a low pressure area with signs of tropical development in the Coral Sea ( part of the South Pacific Ocean Basin), between Papua New Guinea and Australia's East Coast. http://phys.org/news214220030.html Space & Earth Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:34:03 EST news214220030 Deep sediment cores retrieved from the Bering Sea floor indicate that the region was ice-free all year and biological productivity was high during the last major warm period in Earth's climate history. http://phys.org/news211462643.html Space & Earth Mon, 13 Dec 2010 12:10:02 EST news211462643 Scientists have long known that atmospheric convection in the form of hurricanes and tropical ocean thunderstorms tends to occur when sea surface temperature rises above a threshold. The critical question is, how do rising ocean temperatures with global warming affect this threshold? If the threshold does not rise, it could mean more frequent hurricanes. http://phys.org/news208430569.html Space & Earth Mon, 08 Nov 2010 09:23:04 EST news208430569 NASA's infrared satellite imagery has confirmed that Tomas is intensifying as convection is strengthening and cloud tops within the system are getting colder. http://phys.org/news208087060.html Space & Earth Thu, 04 Nov 2010 10:57:47 EST news208087060 This September, Arctic sea ice extent was the third-lowest in the satellite record, falling below the extent reached last summer. The lowest- and second-lowest extents occurred in 2007 and 2008. Satellite data indicate that Arctic sea ice is continuing a long-term decline, and remains younger and thinner than it was in previous decades. http://phys.org/news205506960.html Space & Earth Tue, 05 Oct 2010 14:16:50 EST news205506960 NASA's Aqua satellite has peered into the cloud tops of Tropical Storm Malakas and derived just how cold they really are, giving an indication to forecasters of the strength of the storm. http://phys.org/news204479720.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:20:03 EST news204479720 Tropical Depression Lisa has had a struggle, and it appears that she's in for more of the same. http://phys.org/news204479250.html Space & Earth Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:47:52 EST news204479250 The heat in the atmosphere of Venus, induced from a strong greenhouse warming, might actually have a cooling effect on the planet's interior. This counter-intuitive theory is based on calculations from a new model presented at the European Planetary Science Congress (EPSC) in Rome on Tuesday 21st September. http://phys.org/news204306439.html Space & Earth Tue, 21 Sep 2010 16:48:20 EST news204306439 GOES-13 satellite imagery this morning showed the "tropical trio": Tropical Storm Karl over the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Igor in the central Atlantic, and a waning Hurricane Julia in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Julia has now lost her Category 4 Hurricane status, and is currently a Category 2 hurricane in the eastern Atlantic and weakening. Wind shear, cooler sea surface temperatures and warmer cloud top temperatures all spell a weaker Julia. http://phys.org/news203868362.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:06:19 EST news203868362 NASA satellites provide infrared images to forecasters that show temperature, and today's imagery of powerful Hurricane Igor showed the storm's perfect form and the warm ocean waters around it that are keeping it fueled. NASA's infrared data also revealed a huge difference of 170 degrees between the cold cloud tops in Hurricane Igor and the warm sea surface temperatures powering it below. http://phys.org/news203692121.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:20:01 EST news203692121 NASA Satellites have noticed two distinct features in Igor that both indicate how powerful he has become, icy cold, high cloud tops and very heavy rainfall. NASA's Aqua and TRMM satellites have provided that insight to forecasters who are predicting Igor's next move as a powerful Category 4 Hurricane. http://phys.org/news203615326.html Space & Earth Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:48:58 EST news203615326 Tropical Storm Hermine formed very quickly yesterday in the very warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and northeastern Mexico and southeastern Texas are now bearing the brunt of the storm. Infrared imagery taken from NASA's AIRS instrument showed a quick organization of strong thunderstorms around Hermine's center of circulation and very warm Gulf waters that powered her up. http://phys.org/news203096971.html Space & Earth Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:49:53 EST news203096971 A new article published in the July 29 issue of the international journal Nature reveals for the first time that microscopic marine algae known as "phytoplankton" have been declining globally over the 20th century. http://phys.org/news199471106.html Biology Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:00:02 EST news199471106 By calculating where photosynthesis might be possible around the galaxy, scientists are developing a new way to figure out where Earth-like planets with life might be located. http://phys.org/news199106268.html Space & Earth Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:18:23 EST news199106268 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using a combination of instruments on ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have discovered the most massive stars to date, one weighing at birth more than 300 times the mass of the sun, or twice as much as the currently accepted limit of 150 solar masses. The existence of these monsters -- millions of times more luminous than the sun, losing weight through very powerful winds -- may provide an answer to the question, "how massive can stars be?" http://phys.org/news198924098.html Space & Earth Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:42:04 EST news198924098