Tornadoes are violent, twisting columns of air with wind speeds over 100 miles per hour that can tear communities apart. Josh Wurman, an atmospheric scientist, explains that tornadoes develop in a special type of thunderstorm called a supercell, but that there are still mysteries to unravel.

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Changes in Scholarly Communication

EUReKA 2009: Thermal IR Camera Applications: Quantifying the Interaction Between Soil and Atmosphere

Biological activity in the oceans might make the difference between clear skies and cloudy, Scripps researchers say.

A documentary about volcanic eruptions, their causes and effects on Earth and the geological implications of those events in history and in the future - Part 2.

TIME DILATION: an experiment with mu-mesons This classic film documents an experiment done in 1963 the results of which can only be explained when one accepts the consequence that moving clocks run slow. This phenomenon is known as time dilation. The timekeeping device is the mu-meson, a subatomic particle with origins away from the Earth moving at relativistic speed. What follows here is an explanation of the experiment described in that film. Many mu-mesons rain down every hour on the...

A possible outlook for Planet Earth in a few billion years.What will happen to Planet Earth in a few billion years?

Gerry Soffen, a Viking Mission Scientist, talks about his memories from the first successful landing on Mars and what it revealed about the planet's surface.Looking back at the dramatic first landing on Mars.

A simulation of what big solar storms have the potential to do to life on Earth if they occurred.Solar storms have the potential to devastate our planet.