Will Taal Volcano Explosively Erupt? Here's What Scientists Are Watching

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January 15, 2020

Dear Reader, Scientists are closely monitoring activity from the Taal volcano in the Philippines, which began erupting on Sunday and could intensify in the coming days. Our main story describes what seismic signals the researchers are tracking. From our January issue, columnist Naomi Oreskes explains why we shouldn't fact-check judgment calls or recommendations from the scientific community. In stranger news, beetles are viciously attacking tadpoles, which could threaten conservation efforts for endangered amphibians. Also, check out highlights of the climate change discussion from last night's Democratic presidential debate.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Natural Disasters Will Taal Volcano Explosively Erupt? Here's What Scientists Are Watching The seismic rumblings of the Philippines' second most active volcano hold clues to what it might do By Andrea Thompson

Policy & Ethics Democratic Candidates Agree on Climate Change, Except for Role of Natural Gas Whether to allow fracking and the use of natural gas as a transition fuel emerged as a rare point of contention in last night's debate By Adam Aton,E&E News

Space Mysterious, Dusty Objects Are Swarming the Milky Way's Core Swirling around our galaxy's central supermassive black hole, these objects share properties with both stars and gas clouds By Nadia Drake

Diving Beetles Dramatically Take Down Tadpoles Insects have an outsize impact on their vertebrate prey By Sandrine Ceurstemont

Policy & Ethics Don't Fact-Check Scientific Judgment Calls They're not meant to be taken as gospel truths By Naomi Oreskes

Climate Glacial Lake Outburst Floods: A New Climate-Related Threat From Above As the climate changes and glaciers melt, a lesser-known threat lurks in alpine areas: glacial lake outburst floods. These events happen rapidly, releasing huge amounts of water with little or no warning. Unsuspecting communities lying in the flood path can suffer serious losses. Researchers seek better ways to predict these outburst floods and mitigate their danger. Take a hike through the Swiss Alps with glaciologist Fabian Walter to learn about this phenomenon and our ongoing efforts to understand it. By Kelso Harper

FROM THE STORE Special Editions Volume 28, Issue 3s

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QUOTE OF THE DAY "Priority number one has to be taking back our government from the corruption. That's the only way we'll make progress on climate." U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren at the CNN Democratic Presidential Debate

WHAT WE'RE READING Last debate before Iowa caucuses highlights Democrats' climate divide By Axios The kill-switch for CRISPR that could make gene-editing safer By Nature Google says new AI models allow for 'nearly instantaneous' weather forecasts By The Verge

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