Justin Nobel

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    The Birth and Death of a Landscape

    A trip to a Louisiana river delta reveals an ecosystem that is growing up.

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    What Facebook, Blue Jeans, and Metal Signs Taught Us About Tornado Science

    Screen capture of Patty Bullion’s “Pictures and Documents found after the April 27, 2011 Tornadoes” Facebook page. On April 27, 2011 a monstrous EF5 tornado traveled 132 miles across northern Alabama and into southern Tennessee, missing one of the nation’s largest nuclear power plants by less than two miles, and also skirting the grounds of […]

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    Los Angeles Should Be Buried

    A day in the war between the city and its mountains.

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    The Queen of the Cumberland River

    When I traveled south to research fire ants, I discovered a different kind of hive.

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    NASA Is Going to Dip This Cup Into the Sun’s Corona

    A 2018 mission will send a probe to within 4 million miles of the sun.

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    Why the U.S. Military Is Into Bee Brain Surgery

    Bees might hold the secret to a new kind of nighttime navigation.

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    The Grand Collisions That Make Snownadoes & Arctic Sea Smoke

    Lake-effect snow clearly visible over the Great LakesNASA Last December, State University of New York, Oswego, meteorologist Scott Steiger led an expedition into a snowstorm. The team called themselves OWLeS—the Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems. Researchers lofted weather balloons and tethered blimps into snowy clouds to gather temperature and humidity data. A trio of flatbed trucks […]

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    Ants Go Marching

    More than an expert traveler, the fire ant is the ultimate invader.