Sound of the Moving Earth

Audio

What do you think an earthquake would sound like if you could hear it?

Here’s a sample (opens in a new tab).

The audio was generate by processing seismic data.

More samples are available on from the source where you can also find the corresponding spectrograms, (i.e. the representation of the frequency content of the signal and how it varies in time).

via Zhigang Peng @ Georgia Institute of Technology

Credit: Peng, Z., C. Aiken*, D. Kilb, D. Shelly, B. Enescu (2012), Listening to the 2011 magnitude 9.0 Tohoku-Oki, Japan earthquake, Seismol. Res. Lett., 83(2), 287-293, doi: 10.1785/gssrl.83.2.287. , and Kilb, D., Z. Peng, D. Simpson, A. Michael and M. Fisher* (2012), Listen, watch, learn: SeisSound video products, Seismol. Res. Lett., 83(2), 281-286, doi: 10.1785/gssrl.83.2.281.

As a follow-up here’s a nice video from USGS

Every Classroom Should Have This Infographic

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Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Dr. Carol Dweck is a must read for every parent, teacher and student. As a matter of fact, it should be read by everyone.

Parents and teachers should stop labeling students as “smart” or “dumb” or as “good” or “bad”. Instead they should be taught that everyone is capable of anything one puts his or her mind to.

Moreover, I think the two mindsets should explained to every student and the infographic be hanged in every classroom and house everywhere as a reminder of the two mindsets. Maybe also assign the book for reading as part of the reading list? Continue reading

NASA Launches a Rocket from an Airplane to deploy CYGNSS

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On December 15, 2016 NASA successfully launched 8 small satellites by releasing a rocket from an airplane. The 8 satellites form the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) for tracking and studying the inside of tropical storms and hurricanes.
This step of releasing a rocket from an airplane is part of cutting costs.

Educational Visualization Tool for Global Seismic Seismology

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Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, IRIS, provides an educational visualization tool to aid in teaching about global seismology. Specifically it simulates how P-waves and S-waves travel from the epicenter on the surface of the Earth as well as through Earth’s interior.

It also provides annotations of each travelling ray as it reflects or refracts through the different layers along with their corresponding seismograms. Check it out here (opens in a new tab).

If you are a student, teacher, or just interested I invite you to check out the various learning and teaching resources available from IRIS.

Surprises at the Mariana backarc

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The Mariana backarc, the same location of the deepest point on Earth, is where the thermal vents occur due to the spreading of two plates. In other words, the spreading apart of the sea floor results in a trench like the Mariana trench. At such backarcs, and the similar but not the same Mid-Ocean Ridges, “black smokers” form.

The following video is a fly-thru movie at the Mariana backarc in search for HydroThermal vents (second video).

Continue reading