Professor Paul O’Gorman speaks with Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson about his recent research showing that despite climate change, massive snowstorms could still occur. “In some regions, fairly cold regions, you could have a decrease in the average snowfall in a year, but actually an intensification of the snowfall extremes,” explains O’Gorman.
New research by Professor Daniel Rothman and postdoctoral associate Yossi Cohen has raised questions about the feasibility of carbon capture, reports Ken Silverstein for Forbes. The researchers found that “only a ‘small fraction’ of the carbon dioxide solidifies and turns into rock after it is injected 7,000 feet below the earth’s surface,” explains Silverstein.
In an article for Scientific American about a blizzard hitting the East Coast of the Unites States, Andrea Thompson cites an MIT study that found that while overall snowfall may decrease due to climate change, extreme snowstorms will still occur.
In this New York Times video, James Gorman explores new MIT research examining how rainfall produces a scent. The researchers found that when raindrops hit porous surfaces they release aerosols. The scent is “not from the rain itself,” explains Prof. Cullen Buie, “it’s from the earth.”
MIT researchers have found that carbon sequestration may not be as effective at storing greenhouse gas emissions as originally thought, reports Christopher Martin for Bloomberg News. The researchers found that “much of the carbon dioxide will remain in its gaseous state, and may eventually escape into the atmosphere.”
Jared Silverman of USA Today reports on how MIT researchers have found that raindrops release aerosols when they hit the ground, causing a distinctive odor. The researchers found that “light to moderate rain produces more aerosols compared to heavy rain,” Silverman explains.
MIT researchers have found that when raindrops hit the ground they release aerosols, which produce a distinctive scent, reports Avianne Tan of ABC News. Prof. Cullen Buie explains that the findings also show how bacteria could spread through “chemicals being carried by aerosols."
“It turns out tiny bubbles may be to thank for that earthy smell we get after it rains, according to a study from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” writes Lori Grisham for USA Today. “The study may serve as a jumping-off point for other research about chemicals in soil.”
MIT researchers have discovered why rainfall produces such a distinctive smell, reports Rachel Feltman for The Washington Post. The researchers examined high-speed footage of raindrops and found “when rain hits the ground [it] may be sending out signature smells that get carried away on the wind."
MIT scientists have uncovered the mechanism behind why rainfall can produce such a distinctive scent, writes Macrina Cooper-White for The Huffington Post. The researchers found that when rain hits a porous surface, tiny bubbles form. When the bubbles burst, they release aerosols, which carry the “rainlike aroma” into the air.
Using high-speed cameras, MIT researchers have captured how the smell of rain is released into the air, the BBC reports. “The results may help to explain how some soil-based diseases are spread and the authors are now studying whether contaminants such as E. coli can be spread significantly via rainfall,” the BBC explains.
Professor Roger Summons is part of the Curiosity team that has detected a large spike in methane on Mars, which could indicate the presence of life, writes Brid-Aine Parnell for Forbes. “This first confirmation of organic carbon in a rock on Mars holds much promise,” says Summons.
Researchers have uncovered evidence that volcanic activity could have contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs, reports Joel Achenbach for The Washington Post. Prof. Sam Bowring says the eruption “began just prior to the extinction and continued throughout.”
MIT researchers have discovered that Earth’s early atmosphere may have been destroyed by thousands of small asteroids, writes Rachel Feltman of The Washington Post. Feltman explains that researchers found, “a real flurry of these small impacts…could have completely ejected the atmosphere.”
Henry Hanks of CNN writes that MIT researchers have found that a protective field around Earth blocks high-energy electrons. “The phenomenon challenges existing theories that these electrons drift into the upper atmosphere and are destroyed by air molecules,” writes Hanks.