Why Rain Gives Off That Fresh, Earthy Smell Live Science - January 22, 2015
Walk through the first rainstorm of the season and it slowly hits you: that fresh, earthy smell. Before it hits the ground, rain is just water. It has no smell. But after the drops hit the ground and interact with dirt, the fresh and almost sweet fragrance of rain is let go. Now, scientists think they've identified the exact mechanism that releases this aroma into the environment. The smell actually has a name. It's called "petrichor," from the Greek words "petra," meaning "stone," and "ichor," which refers to the fluid that flows like blood in the veins of the gods. The phenomenon was first characterized (as the familiar smell after a light rain) by two Australian scientists in 1964, but until now, researchers didn't understand the physical mechanism behind it.
Doomsday Clock Set at 3 Minutes to Midnight Live Science - January 22, 2015
The world is "3 minutes" from doomsday. That's the grim outlook from board members of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Frustrated with a lack of international action to address climate change and shrink nuclear arsenals, they decided today (Jan. 22) to push the minute hand of their iconic "Doomsday Clock" to 11:57 p.m. It's the first time the clock hands have moved in three years; since 2012, the clock had been fixed at 5 minutes to symbolic doom, midnight.
Magnitude-4.7 earthquake hits remote Nevada desert PhysOrg - January 22, 2015
The U.S. Geological Survey reports that a magnitude-4.7 earthquake struck the remote desert linking Oregon, California and Nevada.
The verdict is in. The Patriots deflated their balls ... which took a lot of balls.
You will be hearing endless jokes about balls from now until the Super Bowl
and maybe beyond. We are all going to have a ball with this.
