PhET Simulation: The Greenhouse Effect - May 1, 2013

Security note:
Once you have clicked on the "simulation" link below, be sure to read the Java Security Advisory before running the simulation: To do that, click the "Read now" button on the yellow band near the top of the PhET page.

Investigate climate change with this PhET simulation. You'll see how greenhouse gases keep Earth much warmer than it would be without them.

(This feature was updated on May 3, 2013.)

Earth Observatory: Solar Prominence - Apr 1, 2013

Visit Earth Observatory: Solar Prominence, and take a look at these two images of a solar prominence. How does a prominence look when you see it at the sun itself, compared when you see it against the darkness of space? When you see the prominence against the sun, it's usually called a "filament." To learn more, read the text under the images.

Kitchen Sink Experiments: Bubbles that sink: Antibubbles - Feb 1, 2013

Think about a bubble: It's a thin film of water, with air inside and outside. Now imagine the opposite of a bubble: That would be a thin film of air, enclosing water inside and surrounded by water outside. This structure is called an antibubble.

To learn how to make anti-bubbles, visit Kitchen Sink Experiments: Bubbles that sink: Antibubbles and also Science by Email--AntiBubbles.

To learn more, see this Science News Onlinearticle.

Ice over the Poles - May 1, 2013

Visit this NASA Earth Observatory feature for an interesting article on ice at the Poles--both sea ice at the North Pole, and land ice on Antarctica. Be sure to see the explanation of how melting of ice sheets or glaciers can provide "positive feedback" and increase the rate of warming.

Sol Station: Sol - Apr 1, 2013

To understand the source of the sun's energy, visit The Sun's Structure and Nuclear Fusion. For much more detail, see Sol Station: Sol.

Flow Visualization - Feb 1, 2013

Check out the galleries of fluid flow images on this University of Colorado site.