Into the heart of Hurricane Katrina

ever wondered what it would look like to follow a monster hurricane as it develops? watch this amazing visualisation?

Hawaiian volcano sweps and spatters!

Mount Kilauea in Hawaii has been living up to its fiery reputation this year. Its name means "spewing" or "spreading" in the Hawaiian language and it's one of the most active volcanoes in the world.

Throughout January and February, it's been grumbling loudly and crater walls have been collapsing. Cascading lava was captured on February 17 at the Puu Oo crater and on 3 March, a dramatic collapse at Halema'uma'u shows part of the vent wall falling into the lava lake. Erupting fissures were filmed in early March, sending lava up to 10 metres into the air.

According to US Geological Survey (USGS), a lake of lava about 200 metres deep has formed inside one of the craters, while seismic activity in the area remains high. New reports estimate that 150 detectable earthquakes have been caused by the eruption, although so far it poses no threat to locals.

The time-lapse is a compilation of videos shot by the (USGS) from a variety of cameras between 15 February and 6 March 2011.

(source: New Scientist)

Solar Flare Eruption Recorded By NASA

A large and stunning solar flare was captured on camera by NASA this past week. According to the BBC, the eruption lasted about 90 minutes, and was the latest in a series of sunstorms.

NASA caught the flare in extreme ultraviolet light, using high definition and a cadence of a frame taken every 24 seconds, making the sense of motion appear seamless. The eruptions created a "tendril of plasma" (a solar prominence), which can be seen in the video.

Earlier this month, massive solar flares threatened to disrupt power grids and communication systems on Earth. But this most recent flare was not aimed at earth, and thus was not considered a threat to satellites or other systems. Fortunately for Earthlings, this week the solar flare just made for an awesome video. (via HuffingtonPost)