Category Archives: Science

Ground Subsidence Could Worsen Rising Seas in Coastal Areas

Areas of San Francisco Bay Area at risk from sea level rise. Graphic courtesy Arizona State University/Manoochehr Shirzaei)

A new study suggests official flood risk plans for the San Francisco Bay Area may underestimate inundation due to sea level rise over the next century by nearly 4 to 91 percent.

Other coastal cities could face similar effects, even under best-case scenarios.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
ASU Scientist: Sinking Ground Will Worsen Rising Seas In San Francisco Bay Area

Lucky Amateur Captures Key Supernova Moments on Film

Spiral galaxy NGC 613, where the supernova occurred. Image by the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory, courtesy M. Neeser (Univ. Sternwarte München), P. Barthel (Kapteyn Astron. Institute), H. Heyer, H. Boffin (ESO), ESO.)

An amateur astronomer from Rosario, Argentina, has accomplished an historic first: capturing the initial moments of a supernova explosion on film.

Although astronomers spot hundreds of supernovas each year, none had previously  spied the bright, brief moment when the shock wave first bursts out from the star’s interior — until now.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Amateur Astronomer Accidentally Photographs Previously Unseen Supernova Event

Toxic Brain Matter Can Harm Brain Months After a Stroke

Dye injected into a damaged area of a mouse brain seven weeks post-stroke spreads past the glial scar barrier. Photo courtesy Kristian Doyle, Ph.D. / University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson.

For stroke survivors, brain injury doesn’t always stop when the stroke has passed. Now, researchers at University of Arizona and Stanford University School of Medicine have moved one step closer to understanding why.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
UA Study: Toxic, Liquefied Tissues Can Damage Brain For Months After Stroke

Citrus Roots Reach Back to the Himalayas

Citrus originated at the foot of the Himalayas. Artist’s conception by Manuel Talon, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA), Spain.

They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But what if life hands you sour oranges and citrons?

Simple: You make lemons.

So says a new genetic analysis by an international team of scientists that seeks to clear up citrus’ tangled backstory.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Study Traces Citrus Family Tree To Foot Of The Himalayas

The Untold Story of Arizona Turquoise

Collectors know the names: Blue Bird, Sleeping Beauty, Birdseye. Each evokes a color and pattern, from jade green to deepest robin’s egg blue, lightly freckled or shot through with pyrite spider webs of gold and black.

In this edition of KJZZ’s Untold Arizona series, I trace Arizona’s turquoise legacy through time, from new archaeological finds to the mineral’s uncertain future.

Read/listen to my full story at KJZZ’s Arizona Science Desk:
Untold Arizona: Tracing Arizona’s Turquoise Legacy Through Time