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What makes snow sparkle? – Hillary’s 1st graders, Washington State

Dear 1st graders,

I love bright, snowy days. That’s when you’ll find me building snowcats, throwing snowballs and watching the sun sparkle on the freshly fallen snow.

I asked my friend Von Walden why that sparkle happens. He’s an atmospheric scientist at Washington State University. Some of his research takes place near the North Pole and the South Pole.

He told me that snow sparkles because of the way snowflakes interact with the sun.

It turns out snowflakes are ice crystals. On Earth, snowflakes are hexagonal. That means they’re crystals with six sides.

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How do volcanoes erupt? –Miles, 10, Tampa, FL

Wherever we find a volcano on the surface of our planet, we can find the source of an eruption beneath it. That’s what I found out from my friend John Wolff, a volcanologist at Washington State University. Our planet is home to all kinds of volcanoes that erupt in different ways. Some eruptions are quiet and continuous, with a slow flow of lava. Other volcanoes erupt explosively and can spew ash and lava hundreds of feet up into the sky. All of this lava has its start underground in the form of something called magma. Wolff said that scientists used to think there were large pools of hot liquid beneath volcanoes. Now we know it isn’t quite that simple. Magma is not really a liquid, but rather a kind of sludge or slurry. It helps to think of it kind of like honey. Read More ...