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A line of clouts stretches from the tropical Pacific to western North America where it becomes a massive storm.
Photo Credit
Stuart Rankin via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The Pineapple Express — an atmospheric river originating in the tropical Pacific — walloped western North America in February 2017. These systems are becoming more frequent at higher latitudes, leaving mid latitudes drier.

Atmospheric rivers are shifting toward the poles, possibly following a long-term cycle

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This artist’s impression shows two tiny but very dense neutron stars at the point at which they merge and explode as a kilonova.
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University of Warwick/Mark Garlick
Multi-messenger astronomy enabled scientists to observe merging neutron stars for the first time in 2017 (artist’s impression).
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Burning hillside at Sedgwick Preserve
Photo Credit
Matt Perko
A flame torched hillside at Sedgwick Reserve is the site of a prescribed burn.
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NASA simulation of binary black hole system
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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Scott Noble; simulation data, d'Ascoli et al. 2018
The gravitational waves emitted by the merger of black holes, when lensed by massive objects as the waves travel toward Earth can be used to calculate the rate at which the universe is expanding
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colorful image of the belly view of a small shrimp
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Damian Kao Alvina G Lai Evangelia Stamataki Silvana Rosic Nikolaos Konstantinides Erin Jarvis Alessia Di Donfrancesco Natalia Pouchkina-Stancheva Marie Sémon Marco Grillo Heather Bruce Suyash Kumar Igor Siwanowicz Andy Le Andrew Lemire Michael B Eisen Cas
The genome of the crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis, a model for animal development, regeneration, immunity and lignocellulose digestion. VijayRaghavan K, ed. eLife. 2016;5:e20062. doi:10.7554/eLife.20062.
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The symmetrical pattern of a cable-stayed bridge from below.
Photo Credit
Gwoeii via iStock
Comparing the complexity of scientific theories is challenging. Mathematical symmetry can provide an excellent guide.
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oil and natural gas infrastructure in the Permian Basin
Oil and gas extraction infrastructure in the Permian Basin