Science

Arctic lakes getting a closer look by scientists

Minnesota is the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but Alaska has more than that in the great expanse of flatlands north of the Brooks Range. These ubiquitous far-north bodies of water -- most of them formed by the disappearance of ancient, buried ice that dimples the landscape as it thaws -- make the maps of Alaska's coastal plain look like Swiss cheese.

Sparse data on ocean depth challenges NOAA in Arctic

The deputy administrator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says the challenges for the agency in Arctic waters are huge as the region opens to more vessel traffic.

Partial solar eclipse will darken Alaska skies on Sunday

A partial eclipse of the sun will darken Alaska skies on Sunday afternoon, although the forecast for Anchorage is cloudy skies.

Excitement builds as solar eclipse nears

Millennium's first central eclipse visible in Alaska on Sunday

NED ROZELL

The tiny universe on the surface of Alaska glaciers

A scientist wearing plastic boots and crampons knelt on Gulkana Glacier and pointed at the king of beasts, a snow flea. "He is the top of the food chain on this glacier," said biologist Nozomu Takeuchi.

How to watch 'Ring of Fire' solar eclipse

The western United States and eastern Asia will be treated this weekend to a rare solar spectacle when the moon slides across the sun, creating a "ring of fire."

Excitement builds as solar eclipse nears

Excitement is building over a rare "ring" eclipse that is expected to be visible in California and other parts of the Southwest.

Paralyzed woman uses thoughts to control robot arm

Using only her thoughts, a Massachusetts woman paralyzed for 15 years directed a robotic arm to pick up a bottle of coffee and bring it to her lips, researchers report in the latest advance in harnessing brain waves to help disabled people.

Millennium's first central eclipse visible in Alaska on Sunday

A partial eclipse of the sun will darken Anchorage from 3:17 to 5:54 p.m. Sunday. At its height, around 4:38 p.m., the sun will appear to local viewers as a crescent with the moon obscuring about half of the solar disk.

More information on eclipse from NASA

Alaska may have prime seat for Venus transit of sun

It will be 105 years before Venus again passes directly between Earth and the sun, and some scientists are choosing Alaska as the place to witness the last-in-a-lifetime astronomical event on June 6. Alaska and Hawaii are the only two U.S. states that will have a view of the entire seven-hour transit, reports Space.com. Coincidentally, there's a meeting of solar physicists in Anchorage the week after the Venus transit, so some of them are coming early.

NED ROZELL

Magpies are now more common throughout Alaska

A while back, Ron Koczaja was walking a riverbank in Kasigluk with a village elder when a large, striking bird perched on a powerline.

NED ROZELL

Lone wolf's days of wandering in Alaska are over

Thanks to information from a collar that communicated with satellites, a biologist has closed the book on the long journey of a male wolf that left its pack one year ago and wandered thousands of miles through northern Alaska.

NED ROZELL

The language link between central Siberia, Alaska

Spoken by only a few dozen people, a language uttered in river villages 3,000 miles from Alaska is related to Tlingit, Eyak and Athabaskan.

Second UAF greenhouse tunnel collapses

Another high-tunnel greenhouse has collapsed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, but apple tree research shouldn't be affected, officials say.

UAF purchases supercomputer believed to be state's largest

A new computer, assumed to be the biggest in Alaska, should start crunching numbers this summer at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Arctic Region Supercomputing Center.

NED ROZELL

Scientists find plenty of snow on Valdez Glacier

After a winter of outstanding snow conditions, three scientists drove snowmachines up Valdez Glacier this spring, curious to see how far they could get.

NED ROZELL

'Snow mosquitoes' are first wave of summer irritants

First, I'll wear light-colored clothing. Second, I'll bathe more often in an attempt to be as odorless as possible. Third, I won't exhale while I'm in the woods.

NED ROZELL

Amazing wind-aided birds are on their way north

After flying northward from Chile, a whimbrel landed in late March in an alfalfa field near Mexicali, Mexico. The handsome shorebird with a long curved beak left its wintering ground in South America one week earlier and flew more than 5,000 miles. Nonstop.

UAF drone guru turns flying cameras on sea lions

Greg Walker of the University of Alaska Fairbanks seems to be everywhere these days. Manager of the unmanned flight program at the UAF Geophysical Institute, he has been demonstrating his tiny, camera-equipped drone aircraft in a variety of Alaska environments, including doing ice surveys off Nome in subzero cold for the recent emergency fuel delivery and helping oil companies survey pipes at Prudhoe Bay. Most recently, he was in the western Aleutian Islands helping scientists count Steller sea lions, reports The Dutch Harbor Fisherman.

Ned Rozell: Flying machines for the dirty, dull and dangerous

NED ROZELL

Explorer's magnetic measurements ring true

More than a century ago, Roald Amundsen and his crew were the first to sail through the Northwest Passage, along the way leaving footprints in Eagle, Nome and Sitka. Pioneering that storied route was a dream of Amundsen's since his boyhood in Norway, but he also performed enduring science on the three-year voyage of the Gjøa.

Spring equinox now tips the light northward

My thermometer here in Fairbanks is stuck on single digits today, but the height of the sun and a quick online check informs me that this is indeed the spring equinox. We will experience daylight for half the day, which was beyond imagining when the sun was two fingers above the Alaska Range in December.

Harvest of ocean's smallest fish takes toll on food chain

As ocean scientists probe what ails some of the largest creatures in the sea, a wave of new research is urging them to look at the little things -- specifically, the tiny schooling fish that make up the cornerstone of ocean food webs.