
The Asian tsunami of Christmas 2004 killed more than a quarter of a million people and shattered the lives of many more. The ruthless indifference of the forces of nature to our fragile existence on the surface of the planet could not have been more shockingly demonstrated, nor...

What do earthquakes, magma, asteroid 1950DA, and global warming have in common? All are very real natural disasters, already under way; all are also the focus of intensive work by scientists, aimed at preventing, predicting, or at least limiting their impact on civilization...