Washington, Oct 10 : A new research by a team of US and UK scientists has found that volcanoes function in a far more complex way than previously thought, making future eruptions even harder to predict.
The research was conducted by scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK and Penn State University and the University of Arkansas in the US.
The principal discovery is that rather than ‘ballooning’ at depth, as previously thought, the pressurised magma in fact recharges the volcano repeatedly, causing episodic eruptions at the surface.
The research was conducted on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, a UK territory on which the Soufriere Hills Volcano has been erupting since 1995.
Washington, Oct 10: A new study has warned that tropical rainforest and mountain species living in some of the warmest places on Earth may be threatened by global warming.
University of Connecticut Ecologist Robert K. Colwell and colleagues conducted the study.
As Earth''s climate has warmed in recent decades, the geographical ranges of well-studied bird, butterfly, and plant species in the US and Europe have moved northward, following the gradual northward shift of their familiar climates.
Washington, Oct 10 : Scientists have found 274 new species of corals, starfish, sponges, shrimps, and crabs 1.2 miles (2 kilometers) beneath the surface of the ocean around Antarctica.
Some of the corals were found to be about 2,000 years old.
According to a report in New Scientist, CSIRO made the discoveries in two separate voyages to marine reserves located 100 to 200 nautical miles off the southern coast of the island of Tasmania, Australia.
“We know very little about the deep sea,” said lead scientist Nic Bax, a marine biologist with Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) in Hobart, Tasmania.
New York, Oct. 10 : The “Trooper Gate” scam involving Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has the potential of unraveling and derailing the Republican Party’s bid for the White House, even as the Alaska State Legislature is expected to release its findings on whether or not Palin abused her power by having a state employee fired.
John McCain''s running mate has been made the subject of a legislative investigation into whether she abused her power as governor by firing her public safety commissioner Walter Monegan because he reportedly refused to fire Palin’s estranged brother-in-law Mike Wooten from the state police force.
Seoul - North Korea and the United States are closer to a compromise in a last-ditch effort to salvage a nuclear disarmament deal, South Korean media said Friday.
Both sides were ready for concessions in the disputed question of verification and inspection procedures of Pyongyang's nuclear facilities, the Chosun Ilbo newspapers said, quoting a high-ranking South Korean government official.
Washington, Oct 10 : Two senior US officials have warned that al Qaeda has expanded its influence from the tribal belt to the settled areas of Pakistan, attacking targets inside the country’s capital city.
“The threat Al Qaeda poses ... has materialised over the course of last year in a more challenging way into Pakistan itself,” said General David Petraeus who takes charge of the US Central Command on October 31.
The Centcom’s area of responsibility includes both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
At a separate briefing for Washington-based Pakistani journalists on Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher acknowledged that the United States was “quite concerned” about the situation in the settled areas of the NWFP.
Washington, Oct 10: A new study has warned that tropical rainforest and mountain species living in some of the warmest places on Earth may be threatened by global warming.
Seoul - North Korea and the United States are closer to a compromise in a last-ditch effort to salvage a nuclear disarmament deal, South Korean media said Friday.
