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1934 drought was worst of the last millennium, study finds

WASHINGTON, DC— The 1934 drought was by far the most intense and far-reaching drought of the last 1,000 years in North America, and was caused in part by an atmospheric phenomenon that may have also led to the current drought in California, according to a new study.

New research finds that the extent of the 1934 drought was approximately seven times larger than droughts of comparable intensity that struck North America between 1000 A.D. and 2005, and nearly 30 percent worse than the next most severe drought that struck the continent in 1580.

This week from AGU: Glacier health check, world ocean atlas, liquid brines on Mars

From AGU's blogs: Health check reveals how glacier is declining due to warming climate http://blogs.agu.org/geospace/2014/10/13/health-check-reveals-glacier-declining-due-warming-climate/

Testing parents' patience, while treating kids' problem behavior

Humans have a focus on the short term. We are more interested in a potential benefit if we can get it now.

The ability to delay gratification has been studied in children with the "marshmallow test": a child can have one treat now, or two if he or she can wait a few minutes without gobbling the first treat.

Psychologists and economists have shown that similar trends can be observed and measured in many spheres of life. They call the tendency for the perceived value of a delayed benefit to diminish "delay discounting."

NASA satellite spots Hudhud's remnants

Cyclone Hudhud made landfall in east-central India on Oct. 12 and caused a lot of damage and several fatalities as it moved inland and weakened to a remnant low pressure area. NASA saw those remnants on Oct. 14.

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Indochina, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument provided picture proof that the remnants of Typhoon Hudhud were still over India, Nepal, and China. Aqua passed over the region on Oct. 14 at 08:05 UTC (4:05 a.m. EDT).

Prescribed burns in Western Australia

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite detected fires burning in Western Australia on October 14, 2014. Matching these hot spots up to the the prescribed fire burns on Western Australia's parks and wildlife site: http://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/management/fire/prescribed-burning/burns these fires are most likely prescribed burns used to limit bushfire outbreaks.

Seniors run for the suburbs in their golden years

Montreal, October 14, 2014 — By 2040, there will be more than three times the number of Americans aged 80+ than there were in 2000. Condo towers crowding city skylines seem to reflect builders' hopes that the grey set will head to urban centres for increased services and better transit options. But new research from Concordia University suggests that the opposite is more likely to occur.

NASA's Aqua satellite sees Extra-Tropical Storm Vongfong pulling away from Hokkaido, Japan

NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Extra-Tropical Storm Vongfong on Oct. 4 as it was moving away from Hokkaido, Japan, the northernmost of the big islands. Vongfong transitioned into an extra-tropical storm early on Oct. 4 as its core changed from warm to cold.

NASA sees Hurricane Gonzalo head toward Bermuda

Tropical Storm Gonzalo intensified into a hurricane late on Monday, Oct. 14 and is expected to become a major hurricane as it moves toward Bermuda. NASA's Aqua satellite saw powerful thunderstorms within the center of the storm that were dropping heavy rainfall.

Fires dot the Ukraine countryside

Numerous fires (marked with red dots) are burning in the Ukraine, likely as a result of regional agricultural practices. The body of water at the lower left of this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image is the Sea of Azov. The Sea is bordered by Ukraine to the northwest, west and southwest and by Russia to the northeast, east, and southeast. To its left is the Black Sea.

Taking infestation with a grain of salt

Twenty years ago, biologists Kathy Boyer and Joy Zedler, then researchers at San Diego State University, speculated that too many insects feeding on cordgrass in the marshes of San Diego Bay could endanger the grass, and in turn endanger the bay wildlife that relies on it.

QUT study helps outdoor workers reduce their skin cancer risk

Skin cancer is one of the biggest fears for one in two outdoor workers and when the boss and staff work together the sun safe message gets through, a QUT study has found.

The study, which found more than 50 per cent of outdoor workers rated UV radiation exposure at work as one of their biggest concerns, also identified how a workplace intervention could improve workers' behaviours and attitudes towards sun protection to reduce their risk of skin cancer.

Study exposes bias in transportation system design

DENVER (Oct. 14, 2014) – America's streets are designed and evaluated with a an inherent bias toward the needs of motor vehicles, ignoring those of bicyclists, pedestrians, and public transit users, according to a new study co-authored by Wesley Marshall of the University of Colorado Denver.

Inside the Milky Way

Is matter falling into the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way or being ejected from it? No one knows for sure, but a UC Santa Barbara astrophysicist is searching for an answer.

Carl Gwinn, a professor in UCSB's Department of Physics, and colleagues have analyzed images collected by the Russian spacecraft RadioAstron. Their findings appear in the current issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Study: Only 58 percent of votes cast on tamper-resistant systems counted

A Rice University study of tamper-resistant voting methods revealed that only 58 percent of ballots were successfully cast across three voting systems. The researchers concluded additional work is needed to make voting both secure and user-friendly.

NASA satellite sees wind shear affecting Tropical Storm Vongfong

Tropical Storm Vongfong continues to weaken as it tracks across the big islands of Japan, and NASA satellite data showed that westerly wind shear is taking its toll on the storm's structure.