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Humans pumped so much groundwater out of the Earth that the planet has begun to wobble detectably on its axis, a new study has found. On its own terms, the magnitude of the new wobble is slight — a matter of millimeters, which puts it in the same approximate speed category as Earth’s slowly drifting continents. But the findings published earlier this month in Geophysical Research Letters show the extent to which human action — in the form of dam construction, groundwater drilling and the burning of fossil fuels — are impacting the very position of the Earth. They also...

Mr. Ramsey said he was well aware of the structural issues when he bought the penthouse, but was confident they could be resolved and felt it was an opportunity to take advantage of depressed prices. Since Mr. Perkins paid $9.4 million for the unit as raw space in 2009 and spent another $9 million building it out, Mr. Ramsey said, he felt he was getting a great deal. ...Now that the building is stabilizing, Mr. Ramsey said he expects the problems are largely over and that the building will draw new buyers. He said reports of rising crime and quality-of-life...

The building is now tilting 25 inches to the northwest, towards the heavily-traveled corner of Mission and Fremont streets. In an exclusive interview, we spoke to one former condo owner who says he’s glad he got out. “What they said was, this was not a big problem,” said Faulk. Later, Faulk’s husband Frank Jernigan rolled a marble on the floor of their $4 million, 50th-floor condo that confirmed for them that the problem was all too real. “The marble turns around and picks up speed as it heads in the direction that the building was leaning. We were surprised, and...

A window on the 36th floor of the tilting high-rise cracked last week and engineers have yet to determine a cause Millennium Tower must inspect all units and install a canopy around the perimeter of the 58-story building by Friday afternoon. The downtown tower has settled about 18 inches (45 centimeters) since it opened over a former landfill in 2009. Homeowners have filed multiple lawsuits against the developer and the city.

New NASA-funded research provides evidence that the spin axis of the Moon shifted by about five degrees roughly three billion years ago. The evidence of this motion is recorded in the distribution of ancient lunar ice, evidence of delivery of water to the early solar system. “The same face of the Moon has not always pointed towards Earth,” said Matthew Siegler of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, lead author of a paper in today’s journal Nature. “As the axis moved, so did the face of the “Man in the Moon.” He sort of turned his nose up at...

BOSTON—The number of Earth-like extrasolar planets suitable for harboring advanced life could be 10 times higher than has been assumed until now, according to a new modeling study. The finding contradicts the prevailing notion that a terrestrial planet needs a large moon to stabilize the orientation of its axis and, hence, its climate. In 1993, French mathematicians Jacques Laskar and Philippe Robutel showed that Earth’s large moon has a stabilizing effect on our planet’s climate. Without the moon, gravitational perturbations from other planets, notably nearby Venus and massive Jupiter, would greatly disturb Earth’s axial tilt, with vast consequences for the...

(PhysOrg.com) -- The angle we tilt our head can play a significant role in how attractive we are to the opposite sex, according to latest research. The findings, published in the latest edition of Evolutionary Psychology, are the result of joint research by a husband-and-wife team at the University of Newcastle and Macquarie University that investigated whether differences in visual perspective can alter the face’s appeal and attractiveness.

Researchers are revealing hidden complexities behind the simple act of kissing, which relays powerful messages to your brain, body and partner When passion takes a grip, a kiss locks two humans together in an exchange of scents, tastes, textures, secrets and emotions. We kiss furtively, lasciviously, gently, shyly, hungrily and exuberantly. We kiss in broad daylight and in the dead of night. We give ceremonial kisses, affectionate kisses, Hollywood air kisses, kisses of death and, at least in fairytales, pecks that revive princesses. Lips may have evolved first for food and later applied themselves to speech, but in kissing they...

MANCHESTER – Presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the Judeo Christian values that helped found America continue to guide the country today. On the campaign trail and in the media, Romney has faced questions about his Mormon faith and whether it could hurt his chances to win the Republican Party's nomination. "The fundamental principle of faith of Judeo Christian (belief) is there is a God, who is our heavenly Father and all the people on this earth and every speck of humanity on this earth is a creation of God ... And every creation of humanity is a child of God,"...

It's good to be with so many conservatives. In fact, I invited all the conservatives in Massachusetts to come hear me today and I'm glad to report that they are both here. I'm happy to learn that after I speak you're going to hear from Ann Coulter. That's a good thing. I think it's important to get the views of moderates. The mainstream media is surprised that we're here. They wrote our obituary last fall. Course, they've written our obituary before: after Watergate, after the 82 midterm elections, after Iran-contra, and after Bill Clinton's election. The truth is that their...

Almost everything now being written about the 2008 race should be prefaced with "It's still early but..." With that in mind, Mitt Romney, who's had a tough couple of weeks fending off flip-flopping charges, apparently just dazzled the CPAC crowd, according to some conservative folks in attendance. Over at the Corner, Kate O'Beirne said Romney's attacks on McCain-Feingold and the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill were "big crowd pleasers." (Hmmm, what do those two bills have in common?) Also, she notes, "In stringing together some of the events he faced upon taking office -- the Massachusetts court ordering gay marriage, the scientific...

Last year - on Sept. 16, to be precise - the state Reclamation Board, a relatively obscure state agency that oversees flood protection levees, approved a potentially far-reaching policy to intercede when local governments and developers propose residential subdivisions behind levees designed to protect farmland. Spurred by the devastation of New Orleans when levees failed during Hurricane Katrina and an appellate court decision declaring the state liable for damages from levee failures in California, the board activated powers that it had long held under state law, but rarely exercised, to review developments behind levees for flood safety. "I believe if...

Federally funded consultants hired by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley spent time registering voters for largely Democratic constituency groups and at partisan rallies, including one to "take back the White House," according to staff activity reports released Thursday. Other contractors, paid thousands of dollars through federal funds from the 2002 Help America Vote Act, described outreach efforts at, among other things, the NBA All-Star week festivities, a reggae festival, a Janet Jackson "salute" and a community event on behalf of Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. In several cases, consultants delivered "letters of commendation" from the Democratic secretary of state...

Scientists Find Another Huge Mini-World in Outer Solar System The most distant object ever seen orbiting the Sun is nearly as large as Pluto, expanding astronomers notions of how the solar system formed and what resides in its outskirts. The round world is currently three times farther away than Pluto from the Sun, a distance that expands even further on its 10,000-year orbit. It sits in a part of the solar system that some astronomers had thought empty. It is redder and brighter than anything astronomers have seen in the outer solar system, and scientists don't know why. The object...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 April 5 The Seasons of Saturn Credit: R. G. French (Wellesley College) et al., Hubble Heritage Team (AURA / STScI / NASA) Explanation: Since Saturn's axis is tilted as it orbits the Sun, Saturn has seasons, like those of planet Earth ... but Saturn's seasons last for over seven years. So what season is it on Saturn now? Orbiting the equator, the tilt of the rings of...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 22 Summer at the South Pole Credit & Copyright: Galileo Project, NASA Explanation: The December solstice brings the beginning of Winter to Earth's Northern Hemisphere and Summer time to the South! This view of Earth's Southern Hemisphere near the beginning of Summer was created using images from the Galileo spacecraft taken during its December 1990 flyby of our fair planet. Dramatically centered on the South Pole,...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 July 9 Analemma Credit & Copyright: Vasilij Rumyantsev (Crimean Astrophysical Obsevatory) Explanation: If you took a picture of the Sun at the same time each day, would it remain in the same position? The answer is no, and the shape traced out by the Sun over the course of a year is called an analemma. The Sun's apparent shift is caused by the Earth's motion around the Sun...