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Cyclone Anja hits wind shear, weakens drastically

This morning, Cyclone Anja was a powerful Category 4 cyclone on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Wind shear has now giving Anja a strong "punch in the gut" as the storm has weakened to a Category 1 cyclone.

NASA's Terra satellite spots Tropical Cyclone Anja, the first of the southern season

NASA's Terra satellite captured a stunning image of Anja, the first tropical cyclone of the southern Hemisphere cyclone season. When Anja formed on Saturday, November 14, in the Southern Indian Ocean, about 330 miles south-southwest of Diego Garcia it was designated Tropical Cyclone 01S ("S" for south). By Sunday, November 15, 01S had strengthened into a tropical storm and was named Anja.

AGU Journal highlights -- Oct. 26, 2009

The following highlights summarize research papers that have been published or accepted for publication (paper in press) in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL).

Last visit home for ESA's comet chaser Rosetta

ESA's Rosetta comet chaser will swing by Earth on 13 November to pick up orbital energy and begin the final leg of its 10-year journey to the outer Solar System. Several observations of the Earth?Moon system are planned before the spacecraft heads out to study comet 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Migratory route of Eleonora's falcon revealed for first time

Satellite tracking has allowed a research team to uncover the mysteries of the migration of Eleanora's falcon for the first time. In total, the bird flies more than 9,500 kilometres across the African continent from the Balearic and Columbretes Islands before reaching the island of Madagascar.

Whale-sized genetic study largest ever for southern hemisphere humpbacks

After 15 years of research in the waters of the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the American Museum of Natural History, and an international coalition of organizations have unveiled the largest genetic study of humpback whale populations ever conducted in the Southern Hemisphere.

San Andreas affected by 2004 Sumatran quake

HOUSTON -- (Sept. 30, 2009) -- U.S. seismologists have found evidence that the massive 2004 earthquake that triggered killer tsunamis throughout the Indian Ocean weakened at least a portion of California's famed San Andreas Fault.

Scientists at Harbor Branch Collaborate with Egypt to Advance Marine Research in the Red Sea

Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at FAU Pledge to Cooperate on Oceanographic Research and Education--Scientists will work jointly to advance marine research in the Red Sea.

Florida Atlantic University and the Egyptian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research have signed an agreement to cooperate on a range of ocea

Snail venoms reflect reduced competition

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---A study of venomous snails on remote Pacific islands reveals genetic underpinnings of an ecological phenomenon that has fascinated scientists since Darwin.

The research, by University of Michigan evolutionary biologists Tom Duda and Taehwan Lee, is scheduled to be published online May 20 in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.

NASA experiment stirs up hope for forecasting deadliest cyclones

NASA satellite data and a new modeling approach could improve weather forecasting and save more lives when future cyclones develop.

Earthshine reflects Earth's oceans and continents from the dark side of the moon

Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Princeton University have shown for the first time that the difference in reflection of light from the Earth's land masses and oceans can be seen on the dark side of the moon, a phenomenon known as earthshine.

The paper will be published this week, in the international journal Astrobiology.

Are women more generous? New study sheds light on donation behavior

Why would women give more to the victims of Hurricane Katrina than to the victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami? A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research sheds light onto the way gender and moral identity affect donations.

One good thing: Down economy leads to drop in shark attacks

The recession may be responsible for a slump of a different sort: an unexpected dive in shark attacks, says a University of Florida researcher.

Tsunami earthquake was three times bigger than originally thought

Northwestern University seismologists have determined that the Dec. 26 Sumatra earthquake that set off a deadly tsunami throughout the Indian Ocean was three times larger than originally thought, making it the second largest earthquake ever instrumentally recorded and explaining why the tsunami was so destructive. By analyzing seismograms from the earthquake, Seth Stein and Emile Okal, both professors of geological sciences in Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, calculated that the earthquake's magnitude measured 9.3, not 9.0, and thus was three times larger.

Columbia crew spots mysterious flash in the Indian Ocean

An unprecedented flash observed by the space shuttle Columbia crew in 2003 over the Indian Ocean may be a new type of transient luminous event, like lightning sprites, but one that is not necessarily caused by a thunderstorm. The discharge was observed less than two weeks before the shuttle was lost during its Earth reentry. The authors describe the discharge as a Transient Ionospheric Glow Emission in Red, or TIGER, event. It was recorded by a video camera in the near-infrared spectrum in the nighttime sky just south of Madagascar on 20 January 2003. The authors analyzed the video several months later and found what visually looks like a bright flash. They report that the emission did not resemble any known class of luminous events, which typically appear in conjunction with thunderstorm activity.



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