An Australian National University scientist says the planet is losing species at a similar rate to the period when the dinosaurs were wiped out.

Observations about the early formation of Earth may answer an age-old question about why the planet’s mantle is missing some of the matter that should be present, according to UBC geophysicist John Hernlund.

Using a new twist on standard Global Positioning System (GPS) technology, a team of scientists has found that Earth’s largest salt flat is rougher than expected, according to a new report led by Adrian Borsa of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and published in Geophysical Journal International.

Research announced this week by a team of U.S. and Japanese geoscientists may help explain why part of the seafloor near the southwest coast of Japan is particularly good at generating devastating tsunamis, such as the 1944 Tonankai event, which killed at least 1,200 people. The findings will help scientists assess the risk of giant tsunamis in other regions of the world.

Researchers have located the spin transition zone of iron in Earth’s lower mantle, a discovery which has profound geophysical implications.

The International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, entitled ‘Sensing and Understanding our Planet,’ took place from 23 to 27 July 2007 in Barcelona, Spain, bringing together more than 1400 participants. ESA personnel presented Earth Explorer missions, particularly the upcoming Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission aimed at advancing our knowledge of the water cycle.

In 2006, junior resource companies spent a record-breaking estimated $265 million on exploration in British Columbia. Natural Resources Canada reported the 22% increase from 2005 in its Overview of Trends in Canadian Mineral Exploration report, an annual overview of mineral exploration published by the government of Canada.