When Sicily’s Mount Etna erupted in 2001, rivers of super-hot lava scoured the mountainside, leaving channels up to 6 meters deep in their wake. A volcanologist who observed one of those channels has now published results that contradict conventional wisdom about how volcanoes sculpt the earth. Full story (link)
Scientists at University College London are looking beyond the question of how many hurricanes will form during a given season to ask how severe and how damaging the hurricanes that strike the US coast will be. The idea is to help people anticipate hurricane damage and all the effects that follow. In Katrina’s wake, knowing what to expect from a storm season—well in advance of a disaster—is more important than ever before. Full story (PDF)
Today, scientists can predict the Earth’s climate months ahead of time. A new synergy between two competing analysis methods is helping push forecasts out even further. Full story (PDF)
A study of vortices may lead to ultra-maneuverable craft that can navigate beneath the ice, or even inside the human body. Full story (PDF)
For the first time in 11,000 years, the fearsome saber-toothed tiger’s canines will tear into fresh meat—if scientists at the University of Buffalo get their way. Full story (PDF)
As scientists confront an increasingly mysterious universe of mostly dark matter and dark energy, there’s comfort in the discovery that the dark matter, at least, moves in ways that are already familiar. A new theory suggests that dark matter doesn’t hover around galaxies in formless halos as once thought; rather, it clumps together in ways that mirror normal matter. Full story (PDF)