WASHINGTON—Over the past two decades, the Arctic has lost about one-third of its winter sea ice volume, largely due to a decline in sea ice that persists over several years, called multiyear ice, according to a new study. The study also found sea ice is likely thinner than previous estimates. Seasonal sea ice, which melts completely each […]
Sea ice predictions have improved markedly since the founding of an international forecasting and monitoring network 14 years ago. “These forecasts are quite encouraging in their increasing accuracy,” said Uma Bhatt, an atmospheric sciences professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. Bhatt spoke about the Sea Ice Prediction Network at the American Geophysical […]
While running through Bicentennial Park in Anchorage, biologist Jessy Coltrane spotted a porcupine in a birch tree. On her runs on days following, she saw it again and again, in good weather and bad. Over time, she knew which Alaska creature she wanted to study. “I thought, ‘Oh my god, how does he do it? […]
A random meeting between a scientist and an artist in the remote and quirky village of McCarthy, Alaska, last year led to new ways to communicate with the public about rapid changes occurring on the Kennicott Glacier. Glaciologist Eric Petersen from the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute met artist and arts administrator Nina Elder during […]
BETHEL, Alaska – With the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program’s new Acceleration Academy (Bethel), students across Lower Kuskokwim region have a chance to go from eighth grade to a bachelor’s degree in five to six years and save up to $75,000 in college costs. Currently offered in Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, ANSEP’s full-time […]
The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of a black hole, has today revealed a new view of the massive object at the centre of the Messier 87 (M87) galaxy: how it looks in polarised light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarisation, a signature […]
Volcanologists do what they can to provide the public enough warning about impending eruptions, but volcanoes are notoriously unpredictable. Alerts are sometimes given with little time for people to react. That may soon change. Work led by research assistant professor Társilo Girona, with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, has revealed a method by […]
NASA’s Perseverance probe landed safely and on time on Mars, at 3:55 p.m. EST, Thursday, marking another success for the U.S. space agency. The nuclear-powered probe made its way through a harrowing landing process, deemed by some engineers as “seven minutes of terror” because it involves parachutes, powered descent and a “sky crane” that […]
On these quiet, still days, as winter plods on, Alaskans tend to notice any movement outside their windows, such as dancing power wires strung between poles. The answer as to why the wires bounce is in Neil Davis’s “Alaska Science Nuggets.” First, though, a refresher on that book — a compilation of 400 of these […]