Heads Up for Earthquakes

Unlike hurricanes or volcanic eruptions, earthquakes can't be forecast days or weeks in advance. The next best solution, says seismologist and Berkeley professor Richard Allen, is an earthquake early warning system. Allen is in the process of implementing an earthquake early warning system in temblor-prone California. Called ElarmS, the system is designed to detect the imminent arrival of a strong earthquake and then warn a vulnerable public.

A Better View of the Planets

What's the weather like on Jupiter? Berkeley professor of astronomy Imke de Pater knows. A planetary scientist, de Pater studies the climate, composition, rings, and physical forces at play on and around Earth's nearest neighbors. She uses a combination of traditional optical, infrared, and radio telescopes, combining and layering the data from each in innovative ways. Most astronomers use ground-based telescopes to study the skies. But the drawback of viewing the cosmos from Earth is the turbulence in our atmosphere. True to her innovative style, de Pater has been pushing the limits of a newer technique known as adaptive optics (AO) to improve the quality of ground-based observations.

Sniffing Out Smog

Made up of components such as nitric acid and ozone gas, smog is nasty stuff. Nitric acid is a component of acid rain, while ozone kills human lung cells and contributes to global warming. Atmospheric chemist Ron Cohen studies how these pollutants form, tracks where and how far they travel, and how they get removed from the atmosphere. He then uses this knowledge to understand air quality and the interactions of pollutants with climate. A Berkeley professor of chemistry and earth and planetary sciences, his work provides the factual underpinnings for climate and air pollution models in California and beyond.

Richard Allen is working on an earthquake early warning system that could be the difference between life and death for residents of temblor-prone areas like California.