Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Biohackers Inject Night Vision Into Human Eyeballs

Science for the Masses, a California-based group of biohackers, successfully induced night vision on one of their own by injecting Chlorin e6 into a researcher's eyes. Within an hour of the injection, the researcher was able to identify shapes and moving objects in a pitch-black field that were not visible to a control group

In "people becoming superhuman" news, a small independent research group has figured out how to give humans night vision, allowing them to see over 50 meters in the dark for a short time.

Science for the Masses, a group of biohackers based a couple hours north of Los Angeles in Tehachapi, California,theorized they could enhance healthy eyesight enough that it would induce night vision. To do this, the group used a kind of chlorophyll analog called Chlorin e6 (or Ce6), which is found in some deep-sea fish and is used as an occasional method to treat night blindness.

"Going off that research, we thought this would be something to move ahead with," the lab's medical officer, Jeffrey Tibbetts, told Mic. "There are a fair amount of papers talking about having it injected in models like rats, and it's been used intravenously since the '60s as a treatment for different cancers. After doing the research, you have to take the next step."

To do so, team biochem researcher Gabriel Licina became a guinea pig.

How it happened: With what's basically a really fine turkey baster, Tibbetts slowly dripped 50 microliters of Ce6, an extremely low dose, into Licina's speculum-stretched eyes, aiming for the conjunctival sac, which carried the chemical to the retina.

"To me, it was a quick, greenish-black blur across my vision, and then it dissolved into my eyes," Licina told Mic.

And then they waited. From the patent they read, the effects start kicking in within an hour. Licina and Tibbetts had done their research, going so far as to post a paper called "A Review on Night Enhancement Eyedrops Using Chlorin e6." But they are, after all, a bunch of guys working out of a garage. So they went out to a dark field and tested Licina's new superpowers.

Did it work? Yes. It started with shapes, hung about 10 meters away. "I'm talking like the size of my hand," Licina says. Before long, they were able to do longer distances, recognizing symbols and identifying moving subjects against different backgrounds.

"The other test, we had people go stand in the woods," he says. "At 50 meters, we could figure out where they were, even if they were standing up against a tree." Each time, Licina had a 100% success rate. The control group, without being dosed with Ce6, only got them right a third of the time.

Hacking the human body: Biohacks like these are a perfect example of where science and biology can go, and something like providing temporary night vision could be used for more than just a really serious Doctor Mid-Nitecostume. Imagine search-and-rescue teams being able to see in the dark in forested areas or hostage situations.

It doesn't have to be done with a colossal budget, either. With the amount of information freely available, pursuing science can be more about curiosity than resources.

"For us, it comes down to pursuing things that are doable but won't be pursued by major corporations," Tibbetts says. "There are rules to be followed and don't go crazy, but science isn't a mystical language that only a few elite people can speak."

What's next? For the lab's night vision experiment, there are other tests they need to do, with hard science with actual lab equipment and getting real numbers on the electrical stimulation in the eye. But for now, it's fair to say it worked.

"Once you get the hard numbers, that's it," Licina says. "You take it and quantify it and write it down, and release it. ... This is how science works. It isn't flashy. But it makes it more accessible. It shows it can be done. If we can do it in our garage, other people can, too."

Meet the 5-inch “Pocket Shark”

Michael Doosey, Tulane University

For only the second time in history, scientists have located the elusive "pocket shark", named for the distinctive pocket located behind its pectoral fin (although the shark could fit in your pocket!). The specimen was located 190 miles off the shore of Louisiana during a 2010 expedition to study sperm whales.

"The pocket shark we found was only 5 and a half inches long, and was a recently born male," said NOAA's Mark Grace. "Discovering him has us thinking about where mom and dad may be, and how they got to the Gulf. The only other known specimen was found very far away, off Peru, 36 years ago."

FishWatch.gov

Very little is known about the miniature creature; using tissue samples, scientists determined that the pocket shark is closely related to kitefin and cookiecutter sharks. It is believed that the shark feeds on marine mammals, squid and fishes.

Pocket Sharks are Among the World’s Rarest Finds

A very small and rare species of shark is swimming its way through scientific literature. But don’t worry, the chances of this inches-long vertebrate biting through your swimsuit is extremely slim, because if you ever spotted one you’d be the third person to ever do so.NOAA and Tulane researchers identify second possible specimen ever found

This species common name is the “pocket shark,” though those in the field of classifying animals refer to it by its scientific nameMollisquama sp., according to a new study published in the international journal of taxonomy Zootaxa. While it is small enough to, yes, fit in your pocket, it’s dubbed “pocket” because of the distinctive orifice above the pectoral fin--one of many physiological features scientists hope to better understand.

“The pocket shark we found was only 5 and a half inches long, and was a recently born male,” said Mark Grace of NOAA Fisheries’ Pascagoula, Miss., Laboratory, lead author of the new study, who noted the shark displayed an unhealed umbilical scar. “Discovering him has us thinking about where mom and dad may be, and how they got to the Gulf. The only other known specimen was found very far away, off Peru, 36 years ago.”

Interestingly, the specimen Grace discovered wasn’t found it the ocean, per se; rather in the holdings of NOAA’s lab in Pascagoula. It was collected in the deep sea about 190 miles offshore Louisiana during a 2010 mission by the NOAA Ship Pisces to study sperm whale feeding. Grace, who was part of that mission after the rare shark was collected, and upon uncovering the sample at the lab years later, recruited Tulane University researchers Michael Doosey and Henry Bart, and NOAA Ocean Service genetics expert Gavin Naylor, to give the specimen an up-close examination.

A tissue sample was collected, and by tapping into the robust specimen collection of Tulane University’s Biodiversity Research Institute, scientists were able to place the specimen into the genus Mollisquama. Further genetic analysis from Naylor indicate that pocket sharks are closely related to the kitefin and cookie cutter species, fellow members of the shark family Dalatiidae. Like other Dalatiidae shark species it is possible that pocket sharks when hungry may remove an oval plug of flesh from their prey (various marine mammals, large fishes and squid).

The specimen is part of the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection at Tulane University’s Biodiversity Research Institute in Belle Chasse, La., and it is hoped that further study of the specimen will lead to many new discoveries. Already, the specimen--when compared to the 1979 specimen taxonomic description--is found to have a series of glands along the abdomen not previously noted. Partners at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., and American Natural History Museum in New York City have also contributed to the study of this shark.

“This record of such an unusual and extremely rare fish is exciting, but its also an important reminder that we still have much to learn about the species that inhabit our oceans,” Grace added.

Great White Shark Pays Visit to Maryland Coast

Carl Roessler

A great white shark tracked by research organization OCEARCH is currently basking in the waters off of the Maryland coastline. The 3,456-pound shark, Mary Lee, is equipped with a tracking device that periodically pings her location to OCEARCH.

Over the past two days, Mary Lee has been traveling back and forth between waters off of Maryland and Virginia; she has most recently been located 20 miles from Assateague Island.

Since first being tagged in 2012, Mary Lee has traveled almost 20,000 miles along the eastern seaboard of the United States, from south of Bermuda up through Massachusetts.

Learn more about sharks:

How Does NASA Direct Traffic Above Mars?

It's getting awfully crowded in space.

Now that a record five spacecraft are actively orbiting Mars, NASA and other space agencies must play air traffic controller to prevent a mid-orbit collision above Mars.

Presently, NASA has four orbits around Mars: MAVEN, Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance and the defunct (yet still orbiting) Mars Global Surveyor. India's Mars Orbiter Mission and the European Space Agency's Mars Express are also in residence around the Red Planet.

Despite the heavy traffic, NASA's Robert Shotwell calls the probability of a collision 'low'; nonetheless, the agency's Deep Space Network compiles trajectory information for each spacecraft to closely track the orbit of each spacecraft and prevent collisions.

"It's a monitoring function to anticipate when traffic will get heavy," added Joseph Guinn, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the Deep Space Network. "When two spacecraft are predicted to come too close to one another, we give people a heads-up in advance so the project teams can start coordinating about whether any maneuvers are needed."

It could be worse: there are an estimated 1,000 active orbiting spacecraft above Earth -- in addition to an indeterminate amount of space junk and a rogue Russian supply mission.

NASA has beefed up a process of traffic monitoring, communication and maneuver planning to ensure that Mars orbiters do not approach each other too closely.

Last year's addition of two new spacecraft orbiting Mars brought the census of active Mars orbiters to five, the most ever. NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) and India's Mars Orbiter Mission joined the 2003 Mars Express from ESA (the European Space Agency) and two from NASA: the 2001 Mars Odyssey and the 2006 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The newly enhanced collision-avoidance process also tracks the approximate location of NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, a 1997 orbiter that is no longer working.

It's not just the total number that matters, but also the types of orbits missions use for achieving their science goals. MAVEN, which reached Mars on Sept. 21, 2014, studies the upper atmosphere. It flies an elongated orbit, sometimes farther from Mars than NASA's other orbiters and sometimes closer to Mars, so it crosses altitudes occupied by those orbiters. For safety, NASA also monitors positions of ESA's and India's orbiters, which both fly elongated orbits.

"Previously, collision avoidance was coordinated between the Odyssey and MRO navigation teams," said Robert Shotwell, Mars Program chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California. "There was less of a possibility of an issue. MAVEN's highly elliptical orbit, crossing the altitudes of other orbits, changes the probability that someone will need to do a collision-avoidance maneuver. We track all the orbiters much more closely now. There's still a low probability of needing a maneuver, but it's something we need to manage."

Traffic management at Mars is much less complex than in Earth orbit, where more than 1,000 active orbiters plus additional pieces of inactive hardware add to hazards. As Mars exploration intensifies, though, and will continue to do so with future missions, precautions are increasing. The new process was established to manage this growth as new members are added to the Mars orbital community in years to come.

All five active Mars orbiters use the communication and tracking services of NASA's Deep Space Network, which is managed at JPL. This brings trajectory information together, and engineers can run computer projections of future trajectories out to a few weeks ahead for comparisons.

"It's a monitoring function to anticipate when traffic will get heavy," said Joseph Guinn, manager of JPL's Mission Design and Navigation Section. "When two spacecraft are predicted to come too close to one another, we give people a heads-up in advance so the project teams can start coordinating about whether any maneuvers are needed."

The amount of uncertainty in the predicted location of a Mars orbiter a few days ahead is more than a mile (more than two kilometers). Calculating projections for weeks ahead multiplies the uncertainty to dozens of miles, or kilometers. In most cases when a collision cannot be ruled out from projections two weeks ahead, improved precision in the forecasting as the date gets closer will rule out a collision with no need for avoidance action. Mission teams for the relevant orbiters are notified in advance when projections indicate a collision is possible, even if the possibility will likely disappear in subsequent projections. This situation occurred on New Year's weekend, 2015.

On Jan. 3, automated monitoring determined that two weeks later, MAVEN and MRO could come within about two miles (three kilometers) of each other, with large uncertainties remaining in the exact passing distance. Although that was a Saturday, automatic messages went out to the teams operating the orbiters.

"In this case, before the timeline got short enough to need to plan an avoidance maneuver, the uncertainties shrank, and that ruled out the chance of the two spacecraft coming too near each other," Guinn said. This is expected to be the usual pattern, with the advance warning kicking off higher-level monitoring and initial discussions about options.

If preparations for an avoidance maneuver were called for, spacecraft commands would be written, tested and approved for readiness, but such commands would not be sent to a spacecraft unless projections a day or two ahead showed probability of a hazardous conjunction. The amount of uncertainty about each spacecraft's exact location varies, so the proximity considered unsafe also varies. For some situations, a day-ahead projection of two craft coming within about 100 yards (100 meters) of each other could trigger a maneuver.

The new formal collision-avoidance process for Mars is part of NASA's Multi-Mission Automated Deep-Space Conjunction Assessment Process. A side benefit of it is that information about when two orbiters will be near each other -- though safely apart -- could be used for planning coordinated science observations. The pair could look at some part of Mars or its atmosphere from essentially the same point of view simultaneously with complementary instruments.

Odyssey, MRO and MAVEN -- together with NASA's two active Mars rovers, Opportunity and Curiosity -- are part of NASA's robotic exploration of Mars that is preparing the way for human-crewed missions there in the 2030s and later, in NASA's Journey to Mars strategy.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the MAVEN project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. MAVEN's principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages NASA's Mars Exploration Program and the Odyssey and MRO projects for the Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built all three NASA Mars orbiters.

New exoplanet too big for its star

Researchers at ANU have helped discover a strange exoplanet orbiting a small cool star 500 light years that away is challenging ideas about how planets form.

"We have found a small star, with a giant planet the size of Jupiter, orbiting very closely," said George Zhou from the Research School of Astrophysics and Astronomy.

"It must have formed further out and migrated in, but our theories can't explain how this happened."

In the past two decades more than 1,800 extrasolar planets (or exoplanets) have been discovered outside our solar system orbiting around other stars.

The host star of the latest exoplanet, HATS-6, is classed as an M-dwarf, which is one of the most numerous types of stars in galaxy. Although they are common, M-dwarf stars are not well understood. Because they are cool they are also dim, making them difficult to study.

HATS-6 emits only one twentieth of the light of our sun. The giveaway that the faint star had a planet circling it was a dip in its brightness caused as the planet passed in front of the star.

The discovery was made by the HAT-S project, which includes scientists in Australia, the USA, Chile, and Europe, who operate a network of small robotic telescopes in Chile, Namibia and at the ANU Siding Spring Observatory.

To confirm the signal was a planet and not a blip in the system, the team called in help from one of the world's largest telescopes, the Magellan Telescope in Chile, and an amateur astronomer, T G Tan, who operates from his backyard in Perth.

"T G Tan has been really helpful on our projects. He was able to catch the transit of the planet from Perth, after it had set over our horizon," Mr Zhou said.

Subsequent observations from the Chilean telescope, and spectra taken from the ANU 2.3 metre telescope at Siding Spring, confirmed the planet had an orbit of just one-tenth that of mercury, and orbits its star every 3.3 days.

"The planet has a similar mass to Saturn, but its radius is similar to Jupiter, so it's quite a puffed up planet. Because its host star is so cool it's not heating the planet up so much, it's very different from the planets we have observed so far," Mr Zhou said.

"The atmosphere of this planet will be an interesting target for future study."

Webcam Catches Amazing ‘Explosive Event’ in Hawaiian Lava Lake

A United States Geological Survey webcam was in the right place at the right time over the weekend as it caught a glimpse of a small (yet remarkable) explosion in Hawaii's Halema'uma'u Crater.

A collapsing section of the crater wall fell into a lava lake, causing "a small explosion of spatter and a robust particle-laden plume". Thankfully, nobody was harmed by the event.

Breakouts continue northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō

The June 27th lava flow remains active, with breakouts focused in several areas northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The farthest downslope activity observed on today's overflight was roughly 8 km (5 miles) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. This photograph shows one of the active breakouts closer to Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

One of several lobes on the June 27th flow that was at the forest boundary today, burning vegetation northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

Summit lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater remains at high level

Over the past week, the summit lava lake in the Overlook crater rose and spilled out onto the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, creating the dark flows in the south part of Halemaʻumaʻu (left side of crater from this direction). The extent of the lake itself, set within the Overlook crater, is slightly difficult to distinguish from this view but the spattering at the lake margin is visible. The overflows onto the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater floor, not counting the area of the lake itself, total about 11 hectares (28 acres).

Left: A closer look at the lava lake and overflows on the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater. The outline of the Overlook crater, and the active lake, is easier to distinguish in this view. Right: From this angle, the extent of the lava lake within the Overlook crater is much easier to distinguish from the surrounding overflows. The closed Halemaʻumaʻu parking lot is in the right side of the photograph.

May 3, 2015 — Kīlauea

Rockfall triggers small explosive event at summit lava lake

A portion of the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater wall collapsed at 1:20 pm today, impacting the lava lake and triggering a small explosion of spatter and a robust particle-laden plume. Fist-size clasts were deposited around the closed Halemaʻumaʻu visitor overlook.

A sequence of still images taken from the webcam positioned at the closed Halemaʻumaʻu overlook, spanning about six seconds. The collapse originated from a portion of the wall directly below the webcam, but just out of view. Large pieces of molten spatter can be seen flying through the air and being deposited on the crater walls below the camera.

This Quicktime movie shows a small explosive event that occurred at 1:20pm today at the summit lava lake. A collapse of a portion of the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater wall impacted the lake and triggered an explosion of spatter. Fist-size clasts were found scattered along the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater near the closed visitor overlook.

April 30, 2015 — Kīlauea

Summit lava lake level remains high

Following several episodes of lava overflowing onto the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, the lava lake level remains high, and close to the rim of the Overlook crater. This photograph was taken from the southern rim of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, where a time-lapse camera keeps watch on the lava lake and overflow activity. The recent overflows are visible in the center of the photograph. HVO and Jaggar Museum are on the high point on the skyline near the top-center portion of the photograph. Mauna Loa is in the upper left portion of the photograph.

April 29, 2015 — Kīlauea

Summit lava lake overflows vent rim

Photo from the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu showing the lava lake in the completely filled Overlook crater. Repeated overflows are beginning to construct levees around the lake, such that the level of the lake is now perched about 2 m (7 ft) above the original floor of Halemaʻumaʻu.

Left: Photo of the overflowing lava lake taken from the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu. Right:Identical to photo at left, but with labels. The dashed white line indicates the lava lake rim.

Kīlauea Volcano’s summit lava lake, which was about 12 m (40 ft) below the vent rim on April 25 (left), overflowed the vent rim for the first time at about 9:40 p.m., HST, on April 28. As of noon on April 29 (right), the lava lake had overflowed the vent rim several more times. These Webcam images capture the summit vent before and after the overflows.

An early morning view of the lava lake with a recent overflow onto the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater.

April 28, 2015 — Kīlauea

Lava lake level remains high, rockfall triggers explosive event

A rockfall from the wall of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater impacted the lava lake around 10:20 am, triggering an explosion of spatter and smaller particles. HVO geologists working on the far side of the crater captured the initial moments of the plume rising. The explosion deposited a large amount of spatter around the closed Halemaʻumaʻu visitor overlook.

Quicktime movie of the rockfall and subsequent explosion at 10:20 a.m., HST, on April 28, 2015. Rocks falling into the summit lava lake generated an explosion that threw large fragments of molten lava onto the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, 85 m (280 ft) above the lake. These fragments pose a significant hazard, and are one reason this area remains closed.

Left: A closer look at the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater overlook. The large boulders were ejected during the 1924 explosion, but today's explosive event carpeted the ground with many large pieces of brown spatter. Right: A close look at one of the large pieces of spatter thrown onto the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater by today's explosion (keys are for scale). The spatter hit the ground in a semi-fluid state, deforming on impact. The small, multi-colored particles incorporated in the spatter are fragments of the altered crater wall that collapsed into the lake, while the brown spatter represents fresh lava from the lake.

Left: The explosion threw spatter that hit the remaining fencing on the Halemaʻumaʻu overlook, partly burning it. Keys for scale. Right: Portions of the Halemaʻumaʻu overlook fencing were knocked down by previous explosive events, and also by the wind over the past several years. The downed fencing, shown smoldering here, was then ignited by hot spatter from today's explosive event.

Left: Spatter from the explosion also landed on the Halemaʻumaʻu webcam, melting some of the wire insulation but not enough to interrupt its operation. Right: Gas in the lava lake was rapidly released during the 10:20 am explosive event, causing the lava lake surface to drop a few meters (yards). This photo was taken moments after the explosive event, and shows the overhanging ledge of lava along the rim that was exposed as the lava level dropped.

Early this morning, prior to the explosive event at 10:20 am, the lake was close to the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, with spattering along the lake margin.

April 26, 2015 — Kīlauea

Lava lake reaches new high level

Left: This photo shows the lava lake in the Overlook crater this morning, when it reached to within 3 m (10 ft) of the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu. This is the highest the lava lake has reached during the current summit eruption. Right: This photo shows another view of the lava lake, from a different perspective, when it was at its highest level.

Left: This is a view of spattering at the east corner of the lava lake this morning. Right:Another view of spattering this morning.

April 25, 2015 — Kīlauea

Halemaʻumaʻu lava lake continues to rise

Left: The lava lake within the Overlook crater in Halemaʻumaʻu, at Kīlauea volcano, continues to rise. It was measured at 12 m (~39 ft) below the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu at about 8 AM this morning, when this photo was taken. Right: This grainy evening photo shows the lake at 6:30 PM, when it was a mere 7 m (23 ft) below the Halemaʻumaʻu Crater floor.

This photo, taken at mid-day, shows the lava lake as seen from the west side of Halemaʻumaʻu, which offers a different perspective. The lava lake was about 10 m (33 ft) below the floor of Halemaʻumaʻu at this time.

April 24, 2015 — Kīlauea

Rising lava level in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater

The level of the lava lake within the Overlook crater, set within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, continues to rise. Today, the level was as high as 14 meters (46 feet) below the Overlook crater rim. This photograph was taken from the rim of Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, in an area closed to the public due to volcanic hazards, but the lava level was high enough today that the lava lake surface could be seen from Jaggar Overlook, which is open to the public.

The lava lake in the Overlook Crater, within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano, has been rising over the past few days. Today the lava was as high as 14 meters (46 feet) below the Overlook crater rim. Several areas of spattering were active along the lake margin.

April 23, 2015 — Kīlauea

Breakouts continue northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō

Breakouts on the June 27th lava flow remain active northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. A new, small, breakout appeared recently from the tube adjacent to Puʻu Kahaualeʻa, the small forested cone near the center of the photograph. The new breakout is the light-colored curved flow in the left portion of the photograph. Puʻu ʻŌʻō is in the upper right portion of the photo.

Left: The farthest active breakout on the June 27th flow reached about 8 km (5 miles) northeast of the vent on Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The tip of this breakout was narrow and burning forest. Puʻu ʻŌʻō is at the top of the photograph. Right: A small breakout from an inflated portion of the June 27th flow. Large gas bubbles reach the surface near the source of the breakout, and are then carried and deformed as the surface advances and cools.

Left: The June 27th flow covers much of the top of the photograph, and recent expansion of the flow margins has sent lava cascading into one of the ponds on the 2007 perched lava channel. This 2007 lava fills the bottom of the photograph, and is covered with yellow alteration. Right: Over the past week small flows have filled the bottom of Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater. These flows originated from vents in the south portion of the crater, and one of the flows can be seen near the center of the photograph.

Lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater reaches new high level

The Overlook crater lava lake, within Halemaʻumaʻu Crater at Kīlauea's summit, has been rising over the past few days, and today reached the highest point yet measured for the current summit eruption. The lava lake this afternoon was 20 meters (66 feet) below the Overlook crater rim.

Left: Another view of the lava lake, with several areas of spattering active. Right: The lava level was high enough at the lava lake this evening that bits of spatter were reaching the rim of the Overlook crater.

April 9, 2015 — Kīlauea

Scattered breakouts northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō continue

Breakouts continue northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō in three main areas: 1) at the northern base of Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone, 2) north of Puʻu Kahaualeʻa and 3) about 6 km (4 miles) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. This photograph looks east and shows the breakout about 6 km from Puʻu ʻŌʻō. This breakout consists of several narrow lobes that have expanded the June 27th lava flow margin by a minor amount, with a small amount of vegetation burning.

Left: A closer look at the leading tip of the farthest downslope breakout. The tip of the breakout was burning forest, and was 6.9 km (4.3 miles) northeast of the June 27th vent on Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Right: This photograph looks upslope and shows another narrow lobe on the breakout that is roughly 6 km (4 miles) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. This lobe was moving along the south margin of the June 27th flow.

April 3, 2015 — Kīlauea

Breakouts persist northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō

Breakouts remain active in three general areas near Puʻu ʻŌʻō: 1) at the northern base of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, 2) just north of Kahaualeʻa, and 3) the most distal breakout, about 6 km (4 miles) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. This photograph shows much of the most distal breakout, a portion of which was burning forest. Puʻu ʻŌʻō can be seen near the top of the photograph.

A closer look at the lava flow field near Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Puʻu ʻŌʻō is in the upper left portion of the photograph. Slightly above and to the right of the center of the photograph, the light colored area of lava is the active breakout (which started on February 21) on the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The small forested cone of Kahaualeʻa is just to the left of the center of the photograph.

The breakout north of Kahaualeʻa has one lobe that has traveled along the west side of the perched lava channel that was active in late 2007. This breakout consists of blue glassy pāhoehoe, which is easily visible in the photograph on the left. The white box shows the rough extent of the thermal image on the right. Active (flowing) portions of the breakout are shown by yellow and white colors, while the red and purple areas show hot, but solidified, portions of the surface crust.

In the time since our last overflight (March 24), a new collapse pit has formed in the western portion of Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater. This circular pit can be seen in the lower left portion of the photograph, and measures about 27 m (roughly 90 ft) in diameter. Numerous hot cracks were observed in this general area during previous visits on foot.

A closer look at the new pit in the western portion of Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater. Views inside the crater with the naked eye were obscured by thick fume, but the thermal images (right) revealed two areas of ponded lava, separated by a pile of collapse rubble, deep within the pit. Measurements using the thermal camera images indicated that the lava pond surface was roughly 24 m (about 80 ft) below the rim of the pit.

March 24, 2015 — Kīlauea

Active breakouts near Puʻu ʻŌʻō; Northeast pit in Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater

Left: Breakouts are active in three general areas near Puʻu ʻŌʻō: at the northern base of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, north Kahaualeʻa, and about 6 km (4 mi) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō. The distal breakout and the breakout north of Kahaualeʻa are both burning forest. There is no eruptive activity downslope from the distal breakout (nothing active near Pāhoa). Right:There are several incandescent and outgassing hornitos on the floor of Puʻu ʻŌʻō's crater, including the one shown here, which is at the northeast edge of the crater. Recent flows from the hornito appear black.

March 17, 2015 — Kīlauea

Re-establishing VLF eruption rate monitor

Left: After establishing an appropriate location to resume VLF measurements over the June 27th lava tube to estimate the cross-sectional area of lava within the tube, HVO geologists make the measurements, sometimes requiring walking through volcanic gases.Right: The VLF radio wave, transmitted from the Lualualei Naval Base on Oʻahu, is received by the handheld device. The numbers are read and recorded. These data will allow the estimation of the cross-sectional area of lava within the tube.

HVO geologists still sample lava

HVO geologists get fresh lava samples as close to the vent as possible. Once the sample is scooped from the pāhoehoe lobe, it is quickly quenched in a bucket of water to stop the growth of any crystals and to preserve the composition of the liquid lava. Once cooled, the sample is sent first to UH Hilo for quick analysis of a few components and prepared for a fuller analysis of its chemical components by a lab on the mainland. These data are used, with HVO's geophysical monitoring data, as another way to assess any changes that may be occurring within Kīlauea volcano.

Blue-glass pāhoehoe

First recognized in Kalapana in 1990, these pāhoehoe flows appear bluish with dense, glassy crusts. These lavas are generally observed later in the life of an inflated pāhoehoe flow. The degassed nature of the lava promotes the formation of solid glass, rather than bubbly, crusts. The bluish color may be the result of the natural iron and magnesium in the lava.

The upper end of the June 27th lava tube

Left: Most of the ground work today was to establish the location and estimated size of the two lava tubes coming out of the June 27th vent area on the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō cone. The area in this image is between the cone's north flank and a perched pond that formed last summer (arc-shaped feature on the right side of the image). The visual image shows the general location of the main tube before it splits downslope. Right: This infrared view of the area in Fig. 4a shows that the area is still quite hot and the tube location is possibly obscured although the few hotter strands may be indicators of the tube's location.

March 09 breakout has reached the north tree line

The March 09 breakouts, which issued from the vicinity of Puʻu Kahaualeʻa, has advanced northward (to the left) and reached the forest at the north edge of the Kahaualeʻa flows and was burning vegetation along its edges. The most recent active pāhoehoe lobes from the February 21st breakout are visible in the foreground.

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater

Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater again hosts a small lava lake near its southern edge (lower left) in addition to a hornito in the northeast corner (near right edge of image) with several glowing holes at its top.

Active portion of the February 21st breakout

Pāhoehoe lobes continue to be active at the leading edge of the February 21st breakout.

The leading edge is completely inactive

As reported since March 12, the leading edge just upslope of the Pahoa Marketplace, is inactive. The active breakouts noted today were more than 14 km (8.7 mi) straight-line distance from the Marketplace.

March 10, 2015 — Kīlauea

Upper Tube Breakouts

Left: There were two breakouts from the upper tube system on and at the foot of Puʻu ʻŌʻō Cone (right center). The largest and most active was the breakout nearest Puʻu Kahaualeʻa in the left center of the photograph. Right: Closeup of the new breakout near Puʻu Kahaualeʻa.

The Leading Edge

The leading edge of the lobe nearest Pahoa Marketplace is still stalled but, for the past few days, a new breakout has been advancing along its southern margin and is approaching the Apaʻa St. firebreak.

Still Plenty of Breakouts

Several breakouts were active upslope of the stalled front. This breakout issued from an inflated tumulus along the north margin of the June 27th flow.

Halemaʻumaʻu

The thin crust over the lava lake within the Halemaʻumaʻu Overlook crater was moving slowly to the southeast. During our overflight, there was no spattering and wispy gas emissions allowed clear views.

March 6, 2015 — Kīlauea

Breakouts persist upslope of stalled flow front, with recent reduction in activity

The leading tip of the June 27th flow remains stalled, but breakouts persist upslope of the stalled tip. Over the past few days, summit deflation has led to a reduction in overall surface activity on the June 27th flow, particularly in the upslope portion of the flow field near Puʻu ʻŌʻō. In this photo, a recent small breakout (light colored area) has reached the flow boundary, triggering a small brush fire.

Another small breakout upslope of the stalled flow front, triggering a small brush fire. Low clouds and rain prevented wider views of the flow activity today.

Summit lava lake level has dropped with recent deflation

Summit deflation over the past few days has been associated with a steadily dropping lava lake level. This morning, the lake was 72 m (240 ft) below the rim of the Overlook crater.

February 27, 2015 — Kīlauea

Active breakouts persist upslope of stalled flow front

The leading tip of the June 27th flow remains stalled about 500 meters (550 yards) from Highway 130, but scattered breakouts remain active upslope of the stalled tip.

This comparison of a normal photograph and a thermal image shows the leading portion of the June 27th flow. The white box shows the rough extent of the thermal image. In the thermal image, the active breakouts are visible as yellow and white pixels, and these areas are scattered upslope of the stalled tip of the flow.

Left: Another view of the leading tip of the June 27th flow, looking downslope towards Highway 130. Right: This photograph looks southeast at the fork in the June 27th flow that is just west of Kaohe Homesteads. The east branch (top portion of photo) crossed Apaʻa St. and entered Pāhoa in late October, and this branch is now inactive. The west branch (lower portion of photo) has headed towards areas at the north end of Pāhoa, and remains active.

Breakout on Puʻu ʻŌʻō remains active

The breakout on the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō that began last weekend remains active, but has advanced only a minor distance over the past four days. The new breakout is visible as the light-colored area just to the right of the center of the photograph. Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater is in the upper left portion of the photograph.

Left: A closer look at some of the activity at the breakout on Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Right: An HVO geologist sets up a time-lapse camera to monitor the breakout on Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

Clear views in Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater

This view looks north and shows Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Much of the original cone has been covered by subsequent lava flows, many of which poured out of the crater. Within the crater, a depression holds a number of smaller pits, some of which contain active lava ponds.

Left: This view looks west and shows the depression within Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater. This depression formed following the start of the June 27th lava flow. Right: A closer look at a glowing hole in the northeast pit in Puʻu ʻŌʻō Crater. Recent overflows from the opening created the dark flows filling the bottom of the pit.

Left: This lava pond was active in the southern pit in Puʻu ʻŌʻō crater. The diameter of the lava pond was roughly 18 m (60 ft). Weak spattering was active on the pond margin.Right: A closer look at the hole in the northeast pit. An active, bubbling lava surface could be seen a couple meters (yards) below the rim.

February 23, 2015 — Kīlauea

Breakouts persist upslope of stalled flow front; new breakout at Puʻu ʻŌʻō

The leading tip of the June 27th lava flow remains stalled, but breakouts persist upslope of the stalled tip. Today, one of these breakouts (marked by the arrow) had advanced a short distance towards the north, reaching one of the fire break roads.

This comparison of a normal photograph and a thermal image shows the position of active breakouts relative to the inactive flow tip. The white box shows the rough extent of the thermal image on the right. In the thermal image, active breakouts are visible as white and yellow areas. Although active breakouts are absent at the inactive tip of the flow, breakouts are present roughly 450 m (490 yards) behind the tip, and are also scattered further upslope.

New breakout at Puʻu ʻŌʻō

This photograph looks east, and shows the breakout on the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō that began over the weekend. The breakout, visible as the lighter colored region in the center of the photograph, occurred from the area of the June 27th vent (upper right portion of photograph).

Left: A small lobe of pāhoehoe on the new breakout on Puʻu ʻŌʻō. Right: A closer look at some of the activity on the new breakout on the north flank of Puʻu ʻŌʻō.

February 19, 2015 — Kīlauea

Active breakouts persist upslope of stalled flow tip

The leading tip of the June 27th flow has been stalled for several weeks, but scattered breakouts have persisted upslope. On today's overflight, one of these breakouts was active south of the stalled tip and about 650 meters (0.4 miles) northwest of the Pāhoa transfer station.

This comparison of a normal photograph and a thermal image shows the position of active breakouts relative to the inactive flow tip. The white box shows the rough extent of the thermal image on the right. In the thermal image, active breakouts are visible as white and yellow areas. Although active breakouts are absent at the inactive tip of the flow, breakouts are present roughly 500 m (550 yards) behind the tip, and are also scattered further upslope.

Left: Another view of the leading portion of the June 27th flow. Persistent breakouts a short distance upslope of the stalled tip have resulted in widening of this section of the flow. Right: Another view of the leading portion of the June 27th flow, looking upslope. Pahoa Marketplace is in the lower right corner of the photograph. Mauna Loa can be seen near the top of the photograph.

Summit eruption continues

The winds today were carrying the gas plume from Halemaʻumaʻu towards the northeast. Volcano Village is in the bottom portion of the photograph and Mauna Loa is in the upper right.

February 10, 2015 — Kīlauea

Active breakouts continue upslope of stalled flow front

The leading tip of the June 27th flow has been stalled roughly 500 meters (550 yards) upslope of Highway 130 for several weeks, but breakouts have persisted upslope of this stalled tip. Today, the closest active breakout to the flow tip was roughly 300 meters (330 yards) upslope of the tip.

This comparison of a normal photograph and a thermal image shows the position of active breakouts relative to the inactive flow tip. The white box shows the rough extent of the thermal image on the right. In the thermal image, active breakouts are visible as white and yellow areas. Although active breakouts are absent at the inactive tip of the flow, breakouts are present just a short distance behind the tip, and are also scattered further upslope.

Left: Roughly 6 km (4 miles) upslope of the stalled tip of the flow, a small breakout was active at a major fork on the June 27th flow. The lobe extending off the top of the photograph entered Pāhoa in October, and is now inactive. The lobe extending off the left edge of the photograph is the currently active lobe. Right: A breakout was also active farther upslope, closer to Puʻu ʻŌʻō. This breakout, visible as the light gray surface, has reached the forest boundary and triggered several small brush fires.

Summit eruption at Halemaʻumaʻu Crater continues

The summit lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu Crater continues with relatively steady activity. Today, spattering was active along the south margin of the lava lake.

February 5, 2015 — Kīlauea

Active breakouts persist upslope of stalled flow front

Although the leading tip of the flow remains stalled roughly 500 meters (550 yards) upslope of Highway 130, active breakouts persist a short distance upslope of the stalled tip. These active breakouts are evident as small smoke plumes on the flow margin, where lava is burning vegetation.

This comparison of a normal photograph and a thermal image shows the position of active breakouts relative to the inactive flow tip. The white box shows the rough extent of the thermal image on the right. In the thermal image, active breakouts are visible as white and yellow areas. Although active breakouts are absent at the inactive tip of the flow, breakouts are present just a short distance behind the tip, and are also scattered further upslope.

Left: This section of the flow, which has cut through forest west of Kaohe Homesteads, is relatively narrow. In the left portion of the photograph, the flow is slightly more than 100 meters (110 yards) wide. Right: Breakouts were also active in the upper portion of the flow field today. This pāhoehoe lava is flowing over ʻaʻā erupted from Puʻu ʻŌʻō in the 1980s.

A wider view of the breakout in the upslope portion of the June 27th flow. Active surface lava was about 3.5 km (2.2 miles) northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō, which can be seen in the upper left corner of the photograph.

Left: The pāhoehoe breakout northeast of Puʻu ʻŌʻō is seen here covering older (1980s) ʻaʻā. Many pieces of the old ʻaʻā clinker were surrounded by the solidifying pāhoehoe, and then lifted by the inflating flow surface. Right: This view looks west at Puʻu ʻŌʻō. In the lower left portion of the photograph, the circular perched lava pond that was active in early July can be seen. Just to the right of this perched lava pond, a line of white fume can be seen extending to the lower right corner of the image. This fume marks the path of the subsurface lava tube for the June 27th lava flow. The vent for the June 27th flow, and the start of the lava tube, is slightly below the center point of the photograph.