Lucky sky-watchers in the western U.S. are in for a treat Sunday: an annular eclipse. [More]

Earthquakes often precede explosive volcanic eruptions such as the devastating outburst from Mount St. Helens in 1980. But attempts to use tremors to predict the timing and force of such explosions have proved unsuccessful for decades. Now multidisciplinary teams of researchers have developed models that could help warn of disastrous eruptions hours to days before they happen.

The spiral-shaped organ of Corti, found in the cochlea, houses the sensitive hair cells that convert sound vibrations into nerve impulses. These signals then travel along the auditory nerve to the brain.

Today is International Fascination of Plants Day , so I wanted to share some plant science that I have recently been fascinated by. I’ve become a bit obsessed with research on growing plants in space, how plants respond to microgravity , and the potential for space agriculture. Plant research in space focuses on growing plants for long-term space flight, where the plants can not only feed the astronauts but also scrub the air of carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, and recycle water. The exchange of nutrients and wastes between plants and astronauts can form the cornerstone of a bioregenerative life support system (BLSS) for orbiting space stations and perhaps even future space colonies.

Figure from "Seeds in Space" by Mary Musgrave, Seed Science Research, 2002.

Does an ice-cold drink actually taste better than the same beverage at room temperature? Depends on what its taste is: a new study finds that the intensity of some flavors varies with temperature. The work is in the journal Chemosensory Perception . [Martha R. Bajec, Gary J. Pickering and Nancy DeCourville, Influence of Stimulus Temperature on Orosensory Perception and Variation with Taste Phenotype ]

Dear Mount St. Helens,

Thirty-two years ago, I made you a get-well card. You’d just blown your top that morning, which looked like it must have hurt to my my five year-old eyes. I sat in front of the television with my crayons and construction paper while images of your roiling gray ash clouds filled the screen, and very upset and excited grown-ups said things I didn’t understand about you. All I really understood at the time was that you were an erupting volcano, and this was a Very Big Deal.