Lifeboat Foundation

Recent findings indicate that gamma-ray emissions from thunderstorms are far more complex and dynamic than previously understood, thanks to observations of new phenomena like Flickering Gamma-Ray Flashes (FGFs).

These flashes, alongside in-depth studies on tropical thundercloud emissions, suggest that our understanding of atmospheric electricity is evolving. This is supported by extensive fieldwork during the ALOFT campaign, which gathered unprecedented data over the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding areas.

Thunderstorm Gamma-Ray Emissions

Dr. Lauren Schurmeier: “The methane clathrate crust warms Titan’s interior and causes surprisingly rapid topographic relaxation, which results in crater shallowing at a rate that is close to that of fast-moving warm glaciers on Earth.”

How does Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, have such a methane-rich atmosphere? This is what a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how methane that resides with Titan’s crust could be responsible for the lack of depth in Titan’s impact craters, which could explain why Titan’s atmosphere has so much methane, as well. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the formation and evolution of Titan and whether it could host life as we know it.

For the study, the researchers used computer models to simulate the formation and evolution of impact craters on Titan, of which only approximately 90 have been identified via satellite imagery from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

Continue reading “Titan’s Atmosphere and Climate: Lessons from an Alien World” »

After weeks of hurricane delays, the crew successfully undocked on Wednesday and are on their way back to Earth.

How much carbon dioxide (CO₂) do plants absorb from the atmosphere? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated what’s known as the Terrestrial Gross Primary Product (GPP), which measures the amount of CO₂ that photosynthesis removes from the atmosphere. This study holds the potential to help researchers, climate scientists, legislators, and the public better understand the role that plants play in reducing carbon emissions, along with mitigating the effects of climate change worldwide.

“Figuring out how much CO₂ plants fix each year is a conundrum that scientists have been working on for a while,” said Dr. Lianhong Gu, who is a distinguished research scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and a co-author on the study. “The original estimate of 120 petagrams per year was established in the 1980s, and it stuck as we tried to figure out a new approach. It’s important that we get a good handle on global GPP since that initial land carbon uptake affects the rest of our representations of Earth’s carbon cycle.”

Petagrams are the standard measurement used for GPP, with one petagram equaling 1 billion metric tons, and the latter being the amount of CO₂ discharged from the total number of gas-powered passenger vehicles in the world, which is approximately 1.4 billion.

How does social media influence safety messages during a natural disaster? This is what a recent study published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction hopes to address as a pair of researchers from the Stevens Institute of Technology investigated how the perspectives of natural disasters and the corresponding government responses could be impacted by false or irrelevant information being shared across a myriad of social media platforms, specifically X (Twitter) and Facebook. This study holds the potential to help scientists, governments, disaster relief efforts, and the public better understand the ramifications of social media messages and discussions on responding to natural disasters worldwide.

“It’s like being at a crowded party—if everyone’s arguing loudly about politics, it’s hard to make yourself heard over the noise,” said Dr. Jose Ramirez-Marquez, who is an associate professor in the Stevens School of Systems and Enterprises and the sole co-author on the study.

For the study, the researchers examined online discussions that occurred during four recent hurricanes: Harvey, Imelda, Laura, and Florence. The goal of the study was to ascertain online discussion patterns, and which posts and comments got the most attention as the crises unfolded. For example, the researchers found that dogs being trapped by flooding comprised 24 of the 50 most active discussions compared to 7 of those 50 being comprised of public safety. During Hurricane Florence, it was found that more than half of the 50 top discussions involved politics or animals, whereas 19 of the 50 discussed public safety.

Google on Monday signed a deal to get electricity from small nuclear reactors to help power artificial intelligence.

The agreement to buy energy from reactors built by Kairos Power came just weeks after word that Three Mile Island, the site of America’s worst nuclear accident, will restart operations to provide energy to Microsoft.

“We believe that nuclear energy has a critical role to play in supporting our clean growth and helping to deliver on the progress of AI,” Google senior director of energy and climate said during a briefing.

A multi-institutional team of climatologists, meteorologists and Earth scientists has found evidence that dropping diamond dust from an airplane into the atmosphere could cool the planet. In their study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the group used 3D climate models to compare aerosols that might be used to cool the planet.

Next Generation Biomanufacturing Technologies — Dr. Leonard Tender, Ph.D. — Biological Technologies Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency — DARPA

Dr. Leonard Tender, Ph.D. is a Program Manager in the Biological Technologies Office at DARPA (https://www.darpa.mil/staff/dr-leonar…) where his research interests include developing new methods for user-defined control of biological processes, and climate and supply chain resilience.

Continue reading “Dr. Leonard Tender, Ph.D. — Biological Technologies Office, DARPA — Next Generation Biomanufacturing” »

So people can change the weather, and science-based weather modification techniques are now employed in over 50 countries according to the World Meteorological Organization. But for every science-based weather-altering technique, there are dozens of pseudoscientific urban legends.

In Cuba, it is believed that a shotgun can stop twisters. Aim at the funnel cloud, pull the trigger, and stop the tornado or waterspout before it touches down. In Puerto Rico, people have suggested installing giant fans in the El Yunque rainforest on the east side of the island to blow hurricanes away. Others have suggested putting fans in Africa to increase the amount of Saharan dust that already enters the Atlantic early in hurricane season, which can dampen fledgling tropical storms. The proposal to tow icebergs from the Arctic down to the tropical ocean to cool it down is equally impractical. No flotilla could bring enough rapidly melting icebergs to cool the vast tropical Atlantic Ocean for the six months of hurricane season.

Given all these fantastical ideas perhaps it should come as no surprise that besides altering the weather, conspiracy theorists also claim HAARP can trigger earthquakes, and, as the Georgia men believed, remotely control minds. The line between harmless urban legend and dangerous conspiracy theory is thin.