The climate-driven spread of beaver ponds in Alaska’s Arctic accelerates the effects of a warming environment by causing pond-adjacent permafrost to thaw and by increasing the amount of liquid water present during winter. Those are the key findings of the first comprehensive, on-the-ground assessment of the northward migration of beavers. The research was led by […]
An unusual triple whammy of solar outbursts, including one scientists call a cannibal, began hitting Earth this afternoon and is likely to bring the curtain up on spectacular aurora performances starting tonight. Events like this bring a risk of radio blackouts and satellite damage, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric […]
As Alaska’s rivers begin serving as winter roads and trails, a new study from the University of Alaska Fairbanks helps explain why certain stretches of water never seem to freeze. Researchers from UAF’s Water and Environmental Research Center, part of the Institute of Northern Engineering, conducted hydraulic modeling and analyzed a decade of satellite data […]
Walking a storm-scoured Alaska beach, archaeologist Rick Knecht knelt to pick up a wooden figurine the size of his palm. He squinted at it and identified the piece as a doll that might have belonged to a little girl, one who had lived and died there centuries before. He handed it to Alice Bailey, who […]