Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Bioluminescent surf in Tasmania

The beaches around Tasmania, an island off Australia's south coast, had a strong display of bioluminescence last month.

Strong earthquake strikes off Oregon coast

No tsunami warming, no apparent problems, from this 5.8-magnitude earthquake that struck in the ocean 281 miles west of Waldport, Oregon.

LightSail phones home after 8-day silence

Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye said, "LightSail called home! It’s alive! Our LightSail spacecraft has rebooted itself, just as our engineers predicted."

Humans tell whales apart by their voices

Detailed analysis of a particular type of call - known as an upcall - let human researchers single out whales as individuals.

Video: 40 hours at Ningaloo Reef

No beach days yet? This wonderful video by Colin Legg lets you spend two days and nights at a reef in Australia.

Octopus opens a jar, from the inside

Check out this video. More evidence that octopuses are amazing.

New human ancestor found in Ethiopia

According to scientists who made the discovery, the find provides conclusive evidence that, millions of years ago, there was more than one human species.

Comet Lovejoy near star Polaris

Comet Lovejoy on May 22, 2015. The comet is the brilliant green dot near the center of the photo. At the upper right of the photo is the star Polaris, aka the North Star.

6.7-magnitude earthquake in Alaska

The quake took place 3 a.m. EDT (0700 UTC) Friday morning in the earthquake-prone, sparsely populated Aleutian arc, some 400 miles (600 km) from Anchorage.

Fireflies are back, upstate New York

Photo and report from an EarthSky friend who regularly watches for them.