A massive earthquake has rocked the South Pacific and prompted a tsunami warning for Kermadec Island, Tonga, and New Zealand. The earthquake had a reported magnitude of 7.8 and struck off the Kermadec Islands. There has been a tsunami advisory warning issued for the Pacific – for the Kermadec Islands, Tonga and New Zealand based [...]

Continue reading " 7.8-Magnitude Earthquake Prompts Tsunami Warning for Kermadec Island; Tonga and New Zealand "

So what gives with all these tornadoes this season? In April alone, an estimated 305 tornadoes have swept through various parts of the U.S. and, according to the National Weather Service. That massive tornado in Joplin, MO on Sunday that killed over 110 people has been yet another wake-up call in what’s fast-becoming one of [...]

Continue reading " Experts Say Increase in Tornadoes Due to La Nina "

The rest of the world is so screwed. A new, futuristic laser weapon that was mounted on a speeding cruiser successfully blasted another boat in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, in what could be the first in a new array of high-tech laser weapons, the Navy announced today. “We were able to have a [...]

Continue reading " Powerful New Navy Laser Weapon Can Destroy Moving Targets (VIDEO) "

It looks like Sir Richard Branson isn’t satisfied with conquering private space flight.  The billionaire Virgin owner is now working on a vessel that will be able to explore the deepest points on Earth. Branson has launched a new venture called Virgin Oceanic that will explore the seas and map out the bottom of our oceans [...]

Continue reading " Richard Branson’s Virgin Oceanic to Explore Earth’s Deepest Depths (VIDEO) "

Well, that didn’t go well.  NASA’s Glory satellite and the Taurus XL rocket that was to carry into orbit seemingly crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Friday morning, just after lifting off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. NASA seemed to acknowledge there was a problem about six minutes after launch. “Glory Launch: It [...]

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Here’s one for the record books…the tallest rocket in history launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base today, cruising over the Pacific Ocean as it blasted across the sky. At 4:10 p.m. EST / 1:10 p.m. PST, the 23-story Delta IV Heavy rocket took off from the base just north of Santa Barbara. The rocket stands [...]

Continue reading " Vandenberg Launch: Largest Rocket Ever Heads into Space (VIDEO) "

The Dragon, the first commercial spacecraft of its kind designed by SpaceX, returned from a low-Earth orbit on Wednesday as it splashed into the Pacific Ocean. The SpaceX vehicle landed in the water just after 2 p.m. EST, about three hours it had taken off from the Kennedy Space Center atop a Falcon 9 rocket. [...]

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Three teens who had been missing in the South Pacific for 50 days and presumed dead, have been found alive. A New Zealand fishing boat found the three boys, who had already been eulogized. The teens, two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old, vanished while trying to navigate between two islands in the New Zealand territory of [...]

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A Blippitt reader sent us this amusing hiccup, or perhaps Easter egg, found on Google Maps. When asking the popular navigation service for directions on how to get from Japan to China, Google has this piece of advice for users in step number 43: “Jet ski across the Pacific Ocean” Could be a bit choppy…better [...]

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Just when you thought it was safe… A terrifying creature has been discovered by a submarine exploring the ocean’s depths recently.  The beast was a crablike critter that has left many absolutely astonished. In a post over on Reddit, a deep-sea tech commented on his finding, petitioning readers to help him identify exactly what he [...]

Continue reading " Terrifying Bathynomus Giganteus Hauled from Ocean’s Depths "

A group of scientists will set sail from San Francisco on Tuesday to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a gigantic mass of floating plastic trash, estimated by some to be double the size of the state of Texas. The team hopes to do more research on one of the most polluted locations on earth. The [...]

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UPDATE: Live stream available here. We already know that Tuesday’s solar eclipse will be one of the most-watched events in our lifetime. This total solar eclipse will last over six and a half minutes and it will be visible, among other places, in parts of India, Butan, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Japan, and the Marshall Islands. [...]

Continue reading " Watch the July 2009 Solar Eclipse Online: Live Streaming "