Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute is advancing the ability to quickly clean up Earth’s radiation belts from a flood of energetic electrons created by an extraordinary solar blast or a nuclear explosion in space. Many of these incoming electrons become trapped in the Earth’s outer radiation belt and can damage […]
The research vessel Sikuliaq will begin a long journey to Antarctica this week, marking a new era for the Seward-based ship and its crew. The ship, which has been owned by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences since 2014, has largely been […]
A type of cloud that forms low near Alaska’s northern coast and over the Arctic Ocean lasts far longer than scientific understanding says it should. Associate research professor Carl Schmitt is helping a federally funded research team figure out why it’s happening. The work is important to a variety of interests, including forecasting, shipping, defense […]
Sunflower sea stars are the largest sea stars in the world: They have up to 24 arms and grow to the size of a bicycle tire. Starting in 2013, these creatures and other sea star species along the west coast of North America died in epidemic proportions. The stars had harrowing symptoms: Their arms contorted […]