This news article discusses data on Jupiter's moon Europa returned by NASA's Galileo and Voyager spacecraft and the possibility that an ocean of liquid water might exist on Europa and, with it, the possiblilty for extraterrestrial life. Full description.

This news article examines evidence that parts of the Antarctic ice sheet have undergone episodes of instability that appear to correspond with periods of unusually warm temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere during the last ice age. Full description.

This press release explains how scientists have enhanced their ability to predict space weather by detecting active regions on the sun's surface on the far side of the Sun, before they rotate to its Earthward side. Using the SWAN instrument aboard the SOHO satellite, they are able to detect hydrogen atoms in space, which are being illuminated by radiation emitted from active regions (sunspots), even ... Full description.

This press release examines evidence of a possible new triggering mechanism for coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun. Scientists using data from the Yohkoh and SOHO satellites noticed that interconnecting X-ray loops, as they disappeared, were followed by looplike CMEs that erupted off to one side. Full description.

This press release examines recent evidence that the rate of global warming is accelerating, and that in the past twenty-five years it achieved the rate of two degrees Celsius per century, a rate that had been predicted for the twenty-first century. Full description.

This article describes how students in Alaska are helping scientists study earthquake hazards by conducting global positioning system (GPS) measurements in order to track crustal movements in the Earth's crust. It points out the importance for Alaskan inhabitants of understanding the hazards and physical processes associated with earthquakes, describes how the students located and installed a network ... Full description.

This article provides an account of the unusual behavior of Comet Linear, which broke up as it swept past the Sun in July of 2000. Users can read about the breakup and view pictures taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and by the 40-inch Jacobus Kapetyn Telescope located in the Spanish Canary Islands. Links to related articles are provided. Full description.

Until now, studies that involve the ocean floor have been at a disadvantage due to an almost complete lack of accurate marine base maps. Materials presented here serve to introduce the Pacific Seafloor Mapping Project, an endeavour by the United States Geological Survey to produce high-resolution base maps of the sea floor. These maps are intended for use in identifying areas of erosion and deposition ... Full description.

Milutin Milankovitch formulated a comprehensive mathematical model that calculated latitudinal differences in solar radiation upon the Earth's surface and the corresponding surface temperatures for 600,000 years prior to the year 1800. Readers can learn how Milankovitch developed his theories and how they were confirmed years later by climatic data found in deep-sea sediment cores, which indicated ... Full description.

This is a news article on the International Conference on Atmospheric Electricity that was held in 1999. The article describes the use of wide-band interferometers (radio recievers) to construct three-dimensional maps of lightning within a storm. It also features links to other lightning-related sites. Full description.