Science
Snow’s notable absence and welcome (and sometimes weird) presence
In Southcentral, the lack of snow has been historic but brings to mind previous anomalies.
Federal funding released for this year’s operations of Alaska research vessel by UAF
Whether money will be released for the next three years of the National Science Foundation cooperative agreement for the ice-capable Sikuliaq has yet to be determined.
Bending, tilting and seeming to defy gravity, leaning towers of snow are explained
There is also a sintering effect that allows snow to become a cohesive unit and hang together.
Traveling through time along the trail in the 2025 Iditarod
The Tolovana Roadhouse — built in 1924 and used to provide shelter during the Serum Run of 1925 — once again hosted mushers in 2025.
A Mount Spurr eruption is ‘likely’ within weeks or months, scientists say
The most probable scenario is an eruption similar to those in 1953 and 1992, each lasting hours and producing clouds of ash that circulated for hundreds of miles around Southcentral Alaska.
Farewell to Glenn Shaw, a funny, brilliant Alaska scientist
Shaw studied a phenomenon called Arctic Haze.
While some in the natural world hibernate, northern soil microbes stay up all winter
Frozen ground would seem to stall microbes — especially in winter — but scientists have been finding robust emissions of greenhouse gases year-round.
NOAA firings hit crucial Alaska weather service, fishery research
The firings dealt a blow to an agency that provides everything from weather forecasts to fisheries management to cutting-edge climate science in Alaska.
Packed with ponds and bogs, the Bering Land Bridge wasn’t such a dry place
Initially believed to be a cold, arid grassland, the stretch more resembled the modern-day Yukon-Kuskokwim floodplain.
How the final shots of the Civil War came to be fired off the shores of Alaska
Two months after the war ended, Confederate soldiers destroyed a fleet of Yankee ships, which were harvesting bowhead whales off the western and northern coasts of Alaska.
A significant threat within an Alaska mountain
An eruption of Mount Churchill today similar to previous major plumes would bring much of the Northern Hemisphere to a standstill.
‘The best job in Alaska’: 30 years of writing about Alaska science
The gig has taken Ned Rozell on adventures across Alaska, from Mount Katmai to the Nogahabara Dunes and Kiska Island.
Polar bear fur could hold the secret to replacing ‘forever chemicals’
In a new study, scientists solve a mystery hiding in polar bear fur. The answer might help us all.
Remembering a frigid Alaska anniversary of the nation’s all-time lowest temperature
On Jan. 23, 1971, a weather observer at Prospect Creek Camp measured a temperature of minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Nearly 70 years ago, the world’s first satellite took flight. Three Alaska scientists were among the first North Americans to spot it.
The Alaska researchers studied radio astronomy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and had their own tracking station in a clearing in the forest on the northern portion of university land.
Remembering the man who preserved a huge section of Alaska
Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in the final weeks of his term.
The mystery of 53 dead caribou more than five decades ago
Scientists believe it was a lightning strike that likely killed the animals at a site about 33 miles southwest of Delta Junction.
Scientists, students share findings on ancient beavers, mysterious sea floor bumps and thick winter air
Science writer Ned Rozell shares some of the highlights from the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union earlier this month.
American Geophysical Union meeting produces familiar news for the Far North within Arctic Report Card
Science writer Ned Rozell attended another annual meeting, which has also become an information hub for Arctic climate research.
Small fish size linked to poorer runs of chinook in Alaska’s biggest rivers
A new study identifies shrinking salmon size as one of the major factors depressing successful production of new generations in the Yukon and Kuskokwim rivers
Alaska’s climate and environment continue to change, including in some ‘astounding’ ways
A publication from Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy at the University of Alaska Fairbanks details many of the changes and effects.
Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent in Alaska, and other climate report takeaways
In Southeast Alaska, the changing climate means more deadly landslides, and in Anchorage, more heavy-snowfall events, according to Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy’s report.
Less-reliable fall snow makes Alaska moose population surveys more difficult
In the future, a study projects, early-season snow will be too paltry for biologists to spot moose from the air during the fall in most of the animals’ Alaska habitat.
The secret life of red squirrels, living in seclusion in boreal spruce trees
Biologist Stan Boutin with the University of Alberta in Edmonton has spent 30 years studying a population that lives in a square kilometer of forest between Haines Junction and Kluane Lake in the Yukon.
After studying earthquakes in Alaska for 30 years, seismologist is moving on to a big new job
Starting next month, Natalia Ruppert will begin working for the U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeAlert program in the Pacific Northwest.
Study: Among butter clams, which pose toxin dangers to Alaska harvesters, size matters
A new study, one of the few attempts to examine PSP-causing toxin differences between individual clams, found higher concentrations in bigger specimens.
For nearly 40 years at UAF, Brian Barnes studied and taught about how many creatures endure Alaska winters
Barnes retired this year after a rich career in a quirky place that fit.
Chukchi Sea polar bears are increasingly exposed to disease-causing pathogens
Study reveals dramatic increases since the late 1980s, signaling potential future stress for bears already coping with a warming environment in Alaska and Siberia.
Geologic hydrogen may be an answer to questions, both economic and environmental
If geologists can find pockets and figure out how to mine them, a hydrogen plant could power a nearby village that now has diesel generators rattling every second of every day.
How Fairbanks meteorologists nailed a forecast described as ‘cement falling from the sky’
Meteorologists rely on the work churned out by people they never see, who feed weather information to supercomputers all over the world.