Can You Really Smell When It’s About to Rain? Scientists Now Know Why

Medicine & Technology Jan 20, 2015

Do you always know before and after it rains simply because of the smell? Now, researchers have discovered the origin of the earthy, sweet smell that lingers in the air. And though scientists have been baffled by the source of this aroma, known as Petrichor, for many years now researchers from MIT have found its origin with the help of high-speed photography.

Wintry Weather Brings Delays for Travelers Heading Home for Turkey Day

Nov 27, 2014

If you were expecting your relatives to arrive this morning on the Red-Eye, you may have been disappointed to hear that just like your relatives, you’ll likely be stuck at the airport most of this Turkey Day. As it happens, winter has set in this Thanksgiving, and while it’s a bit early for snow and storms of this magnitude, America has seen hundreds of delays today when airports are at their peaks.

On Droughts and Dust Bowls—California Looks Back to 1934

Oct 17, 2014

Recently accepted for publication by the journal Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union, the research lead by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies analyzed the relative intensity and devastation caused by droughts since 1000 AD and found that though the 2014 summer in California was particularly out of the ordinary even in the driest of areas, it did not quite compare to the drought of 1934.