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 Shake,
Rattle, n' Flow
Water in Florida wells oscillated six meters after the 1964 Alaska earthquake;
after California's 1989 Loma Prieta quake, area streams swelled to 15
times normal flow. Stream surges and well fluctuations, long dismissed
as oddities, now open a
window into earthquakes and hydrological systems, from small watersheds
to vast aquifers.
Mudpots
and Microbes
Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula is intensely volcanic, sparsely populated,
and as big as California. To U.S. bioprospectors, partnered with former
Soviet bioweaponeers now turned to peaceful pursuits, this vast realm
of geysers and acid lakes is a treasure
trove of extremophile microbes, promising benefits for agriculture,
medicine, and industry.
A Twist
of Flame
Homes, businesses, and power plants run on natural gas, but clean as it
is, gas burners generate smog-causing nitrogen oxides. New ultraclean,
low-swirl combustion emits ten to a hundred times less nitrogen oxides
than conventional burners -- a result so surprising that advances in theory
are needed to explain it. |
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