Most electrons that create the aurora have a moderate amount of energy, but scientists want to know more about how electrons on either side on that scale — more and less energy — affect the electrical properties of the ionosphere, the part of Earth’s upper atmosphere that is ionized by the sun. These properties define […]
Stan Boutin has climbed more than 5,000 spruce trees in the last 30 years. He has often returned to the forest floor knowing if a ball of twigs and moss within the tree contained newborn red squirrel pups. Over the years, those squirrels have taught Boutin and his colleagues many things, including an apparent ability […]
King salmon have sustained people in Alaska for at least 12,000 years, but over the past three decades their populations have begun to dwindle. Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks linked these declines to reduced body size and extreme climate conditions in the ocean and in rivers. Their study, published in October by Global Change […]
Brian Barnes did something outrageous earlier this week. The biologist drove to a movie theater. In the middle of the day. Barnes, 70, had time to catch a matinee in Fairbanks because after 38 years he recently retired from the University Alaska Fairbanks. Before he caught “Blitz” at Goldstream Cinemas in Fairbanks, Barnes filled his […]