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  • Rocket launches from Poker Flat Research Range

    First rocket of 2026 takes flight at Poker Flat

    January 30, 2026

    A two-stage NASA sounding rocket shot skyward from Poker Flat Research Range at 4:20 a.m. today as part of a long-running project to learn more about aurora-produced nitric oxide in the upper atmosphere.

  • Viewed from an aircraft, a closely-packed group of buildings sit on a small spit of snow-covered land surrounded by sea ice. In the distance, beyond the ice, is an area of open water.

    Twenty years of Arctic report cards

    January 30, 2026

    I sat in on the first Arctic Report Card press conference 20 years ago, and most of the years since. Here are some of the reported changes in the top of the world that have affected the rest of the globe.

  • A woman holds a large pink peony up to her face with the sun shining from behind

    Seminar highlights botanical garden's role in food system

    January 30, 2026

    A presentation by the Georgeson Botanical Garden's directing manager will highlight the garden's role in strengthening food security in the state. Lacey Higham's presentation is part of the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø' Institute of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Extension series "Circumpolar Connections: A Dialogue on Arctic Food Systems."

  • Scott Bailey of Virginia Tech stands with a portion of the rocket for his Polar Night Nitric Oxide, or PolarNOx, mission at Poker Flat Research Range north of Fairbanks. Photo by Bryan Whitten

    Three missions, four rockets: Poker Flat ready for launches

    January 27, 2026

    The 2026 Poker Flat Research Range launch season opens this week with the first of three missions studying the aurora and the upper atmosphere.

  • A man with a blond beard stands against a blue sky background while wearing a heavy red-and-black checkered wool coat and a knit cap.

    Carl Benson embodied the far North

    January 23, 2026

    Carl Benson's last winter on Earth featured 32 consecutive days during which temperatures in his chosen town did not rise above zero Fahrenheit.

  • Presenter at a 2025 lecture

    Science for Alaska talks and events announced

    January 17, 2026

    The ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Geophysical Institute will host free public science talks over the next few weeks, highlighting new climate research technology, an Alaska earthquake mystery solution, tidewater glaciers in Alaska and Greenland and a recent Bering Sea journey aboard the research vessel Sikuliaq.

  • A close-up photo captures shavings spraying from skate blades as a hockey player's legs, dressed in blue and gold, turn on an ice rink surface. The blade of a hockey stick slides on the rink in front of the ice skates.

    The physics of skating and slap shots

    January 16, 2026

    When two NHL hockey players collide, their pads and muscles can absorb enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for a minute and a half.

  • Ice fog in Fairbanks

    Alaska climate report: December's deep cold, deep snow

    January 14, 2026

    December was a busy ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø month across the state.

  • A man holds a white bone, slightly larger than his hand, while another man reaches toward it. They're standing on a gray, sandy beach with the ocean and a mostly blue sky in the background.

    What killed the world's giants?

    January 08, 2026

    Most of the large animals that have walked the surface of Earth are no longer here. Why?

  • Several wolves look up while standing on snow in front of a thicket of leafless willows.

    The Riley Creek pack's sole survivor

    January 05, 2026

    As I was driving down the highway one spring day eight years ago, I saw a shaggy, gray-black canine cruising along on the snowpack, right next to the road.

  • A brown-haired boy wearing jeans and no shirt smiles and clenches his fists while standing next to an L.L. Bean-brand dial thermometer that indicates a temperature of 50 degrees below zero. A date stamp on the photo shows it was taken on Jan. 23, 1989.

    Fuzzy memories of a real Alaska cold snap

    December 26, 2025

    More than 35 years have ticked away since I turned my pickup left onto a North Pole road and noticed the clutch pedal remained on the floor. In a panic, I reached down with my mittened hand and pulled. The frozen plunger oozed back into position.

  • Images show four pieces of round, flat brown bones with rough surfaces.

    A whale of a mammoth tale

    December 19, 2025

    Matthew Wooller couldn't believe his ears after a California researcher rang his cellphone recently.

  • Researchers standing on a gravel pad in the Brooks Range with field gear

    Recent tundra fires 'exceed anything in past 3,000 years'

    December 16, 2025

    Wildfires on Alaska's North Slope were more active this past century than at any time in the past 3,000 years, according to a study recently published in the journal Biogeosciences.

  • Vegetation surrounding a creek is colored orange.

    Arctic Report Card celebrates 20 years

    December 16, 2025

    The 20th edition of the Arctic Report Card, published this week, continues to serve as a record of persistent and extraordinary warming in the North. As has been the case since its inception in 2006, ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø researchers contributed essays documenting the changing Arctic.

  • The sun illuminates a snow-capped mountain rising above small cumulus clouds, dark foothills, a mixed evergreen and deciduous forest, a grassy field and a gravel beach.

    A wrinkle beneath the icy face of Alaska

    December 12, 2025

    A few days ago, the forces beneath Alaska rattled people within a 500-mile radius: A magnitude 7 earthquake ripped under Hubbard Glacier.

  • Subscribe and submit content to the VCR Report

    December 12, 2025

    Are you a student, staff member, faculty member or researcher involved in UAF's research community? If so, we encourage you to subscribe to the VCR Report. This weekly publication provides timely updates, important announcements, events, funding opportunities and other research-related information.

  • These two growth plates from the University of Alaska Museum of the North, originally thought to be from ancient woolly mammoths, were later determined to be from whale species.

    Mammoth mystery takes an unexpected turn

    December 12, 2025

    ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø researcher Matthew Wooller and a large international team have studied the remains of more than 300 mammoths during the past three years. None has delivered a journey quite like samples UAMN3760 and UAMN3724.

  • The West Ridge research area at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø nestles against frosted woodlands in November 2025. Photo by Eric Marshall

    Alaska climate report: November anything but normal

    December 11, 2025

    November brought two wildly differing snow stories to Alaska, according to the monthly summary from the Alaska Climate Research Center at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Geophysical Institute.

  • The July 9, 1962, Starfish Prime explosion above the Pacific Ocean.

    Research offers defense against energized space electrons

    December 09, 2025

    Research at the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Geophysical Institute is advancing the ability to quickly clean up Earth's radiation belts from a flood of energetic electrons created by an extraordinary solar blast or a nuclear explosion in space.

  • A field scientist stands in a rainy tundra while measuring plant cover

    Apply for Toolik Field Station's 2026 early career Tundra Award

    December 08, 2025

    Toolik Field Station invites students and early career researchers to apply for the Tundra Award for the 2026 field season. This competitive award sponsors independent and original Arctic research projects with up to 10 days at Toolik Field Station.

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