Antarctica’s Mystery Mountains
The least understood mountain ranges in the world currently reside under 5 miles of ice in the Antarctic. Thanks to recently conducted “mountain MRIs”, more is now know about the history of these ranges, called the Gamburtsev Mountains. These frozen mountain ranges are on par with the European Alps, with the highest peaks rising nearly 15,000 feet. The ranges appear to be apart of a rift that formed about 250 million years ago, during the breakup of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. The MRI revealed that the Gamburtsevs appear to sit atop an older range, formed either 1.1 or 1.8 billion years ago, when East Antarctica was being assembled from smaller pieces. NatGeo
Virtual Rioters
A team lead by geographer Paul Torrens from the University of Maryland created a virtual simulation of the movement of rioting crowds. Torrens says his approach is based in theory and observation, and his model incorporates 30 different behaviors, from path planning and collision avoidance to group dynamic such as herding and following a leader. These behaviors are then translated into mathematical models, and different algorithms can be applied to each agent, or to the group as a whole. According to Torrens, the model “does a good job at replicating human movement.” With some improvement, Torrens hopes the simulation could be used to help with disaster relief and emergency planning. NewScientist
The Largest Self-Supporting Suspension Bridge Ever Built
The city of San Francisco is building a new bridge alongside the Bay Bridge, one of the city’s main transit destinations. This new bridge is built to withstand large earthquakes, and is the largest self-supporting suspension bridge ever built. To withstand earthquakes, the two roadways are not attached directly to the bridge’s tower. This allows them to be able to sway when an earthquake hits, and remain intact even through the strongest shaking of an earthquake. Discover
Lakes on Europa
A team of planetary scientists believe that the chaotic surface features on Jupiter’s moon Europa are in fact vast underground cavities of liquid water. Robert Pappalardo, a planetary scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California believes that the watery cavities could be potential targets for a future life-seeking lander, but that scientists first need to pinpoint exactly where the buried lakes are. ScienceNews
Top image: Screen shot from NewScientist’s Virtual Rioter Video