What Makes a Monster Wave?

Susan Casey's new book explores the monsters

(NEWSER) - There are waves, and then there are waves. Susan Casey tackles the latter in The Wave, a new book that explores the world of rogue waves—individual giants that can measure more than 120 feet tall, damage 100-foot oil rigs, and even sink large ships. Salon talked to her about these mega-tsunamis. Some highlights from the deep:

• Proving these even exist hasn't been easy: After all, points out Casey, most people who encounter one don't live to tell the tale. "It took chaos theory, quantum physics and physics theories from light to understand why one wave can suddenly pirate the energy from four other waves around it, and it becomes this unstable, teetering monster."

Study takes a look at the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'

(NEWSER) - Humanity has tossed a lot of plastic into the Pacific Ocean in the last 40 years. The level of small plastic pieces in the so-called "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" has increased 100-fold over that span, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography found in a new study. "We did not expect to find this," one researcher tells the BBC . "To find such a clear pattern and such a large increase was very surprising." More»

Many turning up in Gulf with variety of diseases, say researchers

(NEWSER) - Another sign that the catastrophic 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is taking a serious toll on the local dolphin population: Researchers conducted physicals on 32 of them last summer in a particularly hard-hit bay and discovered that many suffered from anemia, low blood sugar, low weight, and showed symptoms of lung and liver diseases, reports LiveScience . About half had unusually low levels of hormones needed for immunity. More»

SEI report estimates 4-degree rise over the century

(NEWSER) - Unless action is taken to protect them, damage to the world's oceans could reach $1.98 trillion annually by 2100, according to a study released today by the Stockholm Environment Institute. The principle culprit: climate change, which will cause rising sea levels, ocean acidification, marine pollution, species migrations, and cause tropical cyclones, Reuters reports. The report assumes temperatures will rise about 4 degrees Celsius over the century, but if governments can limit that to, say, 2.2 degrees, SEI says that would "save" almost $1.4 trillion of those damages. More»

It could shed new light on exactly what happened

(NEWSER) - For the first time ever, researchers have constructed a complete map of the Titanic's underwater shipwreck site. When the Titanic sank in 1912, debris was scattered across an area measuring 3 by 5 miles. To draw a detailed map of the area, scientists dispatched robots to take more than 100,000 photographs and used sonar imaging technology to scour the seabed, reports AP . The History channel will air a two-hour documentary on the project on April 15, the 100th anniversary of the sinking. More»