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NASA measuring Tropical Storm Debby's heavy rains from space

Tropical Storm Debby continues to be a big rainmaker in Florida and southern Georgia and NASA's TRMM satellite has measured those rainfall rates from space, showing where heavy rain has fallen.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite is basically a flying rain gauge in space. Scientists use TRMM data to calculate rainfall rates and rain totals from space. TRMM imagery from June 25 showed Debby's heaviest rains were falling at a rate of over 2 inches (50 mm) per hour, and to the southeast of the center.

Reaching, researching between stars

From Earth, observers use telescopes to look and learn about the distant luminous spheres. But the telescope often isn't the only instrument used. Karl Gebhardt, professor of astrophysics at The University of Texas at Austin and one of the principal investigators for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) project, makes revolutionary discoveries about dark matter by combining deep-space observations with the powerful Lonestar supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).

Nanodiamonds cut through dirt to bring back 'bling' to low-temperature laundry

Nanodiamonds, pieces of carbon less than ten-thousandths the diameter of a human hair, have been found to help loosen crystallized fat from surfaces in a project led by research chemists at the University of Warwick that transforms the ability of washing powders to shift dirt in eco friendly low temperature laundry cycles.

NASA sees Tropical Storm Debby's clouds blanket Florida

Like a white blanket, Tropical Storm Debby's clouds covered the entire state of Florida in a NASA satellite image.

Two satellites have captured imagery that shows Tropical Storm Debby has thrown a large white blanket of clouds over the state of Florida, and it doesn't seem like that blanket is going to lift quickly as Debby moves slowly north.

BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill exacerbated existing environmental problems in Louisiana marshes

GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill temporarily worsened existing manmade problems in Louisiana's salt marshes such as erosion, but there may be cause for optimism, according to a new study.

Cassini shows why jet streams cross-cut Saturn

Turbulent jet streams, regions where winds blow faster than in other places, churn east and west across Saturn. Scientists have been trying to understand for years the mechanism that drives these wavy structures in Saturn's atmosphere and the source from which the jets derive their energy.

Mercury mineral evolution

Washington, D.C. -- Mineral evolution posits that Earth's near-surface mineral diversity gradually increased through an array of chemical and biological processes. A dozen different species in interstellar dust particles that formed the solar system have evolved to more than 4500 species today. Previous work from Carnegie's Bob Hazen demonstrated that up to two thirds of the known types of minerals on Earth can be directly or indirectly linked to biological activity.

Scientists twist light to send data

A multi-national team led by USC with researchers hailing from the U.S., China, Pakistan and Israel has developed a system of transmitting data using twisted beams of light at ultra-high speeds – up to 2.56 terabits per second.

To put that in perspective, broadband cable (which you probably used to download this) supports up to about 30 megabits per second. The twisted-light system transmits more than 85,000 times more data per second.

Low vitamin D levels linked to weight gain in some older women

Older women with insufficient levels of Vitamin D gained more weight than those with sufficient levels of the vitamin, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published online today in the Journal of Women's Health. The study of more than 4,600 women ages 65 and older found that over nearly five years, those with insufficient levels of Vitamin D in their blood gained about two pounds more than those with adequate levels of the vitamin.

Risk score could lead to better diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome in children

Researchers have developed a new scoring system that may better identify adolescents with the metabolic syndrome, a group at increased risk of later developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The study, to be presented Sunday at The Endocrine Society's 94th Annual Meeting in Houston, describes what the authors call "the first racial/ethnic-specific and sex-specific scoring system for the metabolic syndrome."

Mount Sinai researcher finds timing of ADHD medication affect academic progress

A team of researchers led by an epidemiologist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and University of Iceland has found a correlation between the age at which children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) begin taking medication, and how well they perform on standardized tests, particularly in math.

Offenders need integrated, on-going, mental health care

Offenders with mental health problems need improved and on-going access to health care, according to the first study to systematically examine healthcare received by offenders across the criminal justice system.

NASA satellite sees several western US fires blazing

Fires are raging in the western U.S. and in one overpass from its orbit around the Earth, NASA's Aqua satellite picked up smoke and identified hot spots from fires in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

NASA's Aqua satellite captured smoke and heat signatures from several large fires burning in the western U.S. on June 19, 2012. When Aqua passed overhead, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured an image at 4:25 p.m. EDT.

NASA sees tropical trouble brewing in southern Gulf of Mexico

Imagery from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite has shown some towering thunderstorms within the low pressure area called System 96L, located in the southern Gulf of Mexico. NASA continues to create the imagery from the GOES satellite and NASA satellites are also monitoring the developing low. If it does organize further and become a tropical storm over the weekend, it would be named "Debby."

NASA sees first Atlantic hurricane fizzling in cool waters

Chris may have been the Atlantic Ocean Hurricane Season's first hurricane, but didn't maintain that title for long. NASA satellite data revealed one good reason why Chris had weakened and became a post-tropical storm.

Sea surface temperatures play a big role in keeping a tropical cyclone alive. They need warm seas of at least 300 Kelvin (80 Fahrenheit/26.8 Celsius) to maintain strength. NASA's Aqua satellite revealed that those conditions were not met where Chris is located in the Atlantic Ocean.