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How Does a Nuclear Reactor Work?
A nuclear reactor controls a self-sustaining fission chain reaction so that heat can be removed safely and used for a practical purpose such as generating electricity, p…
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What Is Nuclear Waste and How Is It Managed?
Nuclear waste is radioactive material that requires controlled handling because its radioactivity or other hazardous properties persist after use. The term covers severa…
Environment
What Are Seismic Waves?
Seismic waves are vibrations that carry energy away from an earthquake, explosion or other sudden source. Their speed and path depend on the elastic properties and densi…
Environment
What Is Plate Tectonics?
Plate tectonics is the framework that explains the large-scale motion of Earth's rigid outer shell. The lithosphere is broken into plates that move over the weaker asthe…
Environment
How Do Volcanoes Erupt?
Volcanoes erupt when magma and gases move from depth toward Earth's surface and pressure overcomes the strength of surrounding rock. The style of eruption depends on mag…
Environment
How Do Earthquakes Happen?
Earthquakes happen when stress accumulated in rocks is released suddenly as a fault slips. Tectonic plates move continuously, but friction can lock parts of their bounda…
Environment
How Do Weather Forecasting Models Work?
Weather forecasting models are computer simulations that estimate how the atmosphere will evolve from an analyzed starting state. They translate physical laws into numer…
Environment
How Do Tornadoes Form?
Tornadoes are violently rotating columns of air that extend from a thunderstorm to the ground. Most strong tornadoes form from supercell thunderstorms, but not every sup…
Environment
How Do Hurricanes Form?
Hurricanes form over warm tropical oceans when the atmosphere and ocean supply a specific combination of heat, moisture, rotation and organized thunderstorms. In other r…
Space science
What Is Space Weather?
Space weather describes changing conditions in the Sun, solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere that can affect technology and operations near Earth. It i…
Space science
What Is a Geomagnetic Storm?
A geomagnetic storm is a prolonged disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere caused by enhanced energy transfer from the solar wind. The most significant storms are often ass…
Space science
What Is a Solar Flare?
A solar flare is a rapid release of magnetic energy in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares can brighten dramatically in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation and can acceler…
Space science
What Are the Northern Lights and Why Do Auroras Happen?
Auroras occur when energetic charged particles are guided by Earth's magnetic field into the upper atmosphere, where collisions with oxygen and nitrogen produce light. T…
Health
How Do Clinical Trials Work?
Clinical trials are prospective studies in which people take part so researchers can evaluate interventions, prevention strategies, diagnostics or other health-related a…
Health
What Is Medical Research and How Does It Lead to New Treatments?
Medical research is the organized process of asking questions about health, disease and care, then testing those questions with laboratory, population and clinical evide…