Running Circles around the Land of No Night
All of a sudden, we are again the land of no night. Summer happens every year, but it is always a surprise. Maybe because winter is the normal state of…
Alaska Structures Crumble without Us
In Alan Weisman’s book, “The World Without Us,” the author ponders “a world from which we all suddenly vanished. Tomorrow.” In his thought experiment, Weisman travels around the world to…
Along Alaska’s Pacific coast, early humans could have migrated to the Americas
New dating of rocks and reanalysis of animal bones from islands along the shore of southeastern Alaska suggests that a narrow corridor between the Pacific Ocean and the Cordilleran Ice…
Scientists Plan Study of Northern Cities’ Air Quality
Atmospheric scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks have launched an effort to better understand urban air quality problems in northern cities. During the next few years, Bill Simpson and…
Making a New Map of Denali
A Fairbanks scientist recently made an intricate new map of Denali while crisscrossing its summit a few times in a single-engine airplane. His top-of-the-continent measurement was within a few feet…
NOAA Adopts Technology to Automate Weather Balloon Launches
NOAA’s National Weather Service is tapping technology to automate weather balloon launches in Alaska, a move that will allow staff to improve public service across the state while saving federal…
Bird Feathers and the Smell of Tangerines
Millions of Alaska birds nest on rocky emerald islands seen by few people other than ship captains. One of the funkiest of these creatures is the crested auklet, which looks…
Village Visit with the Northern Lights
NUIQSUT — Snow whips through the streets, stinging the skin and piling up in dunes. It is springtime in Nuiqsut, blinding white, 1 degree Fahrenheit with a 30 mile-per-hour wind.…
