"US Geological Survey"

Two quakes above magnitude 5 were felt lightly in places as far away as Juneau and Whitehorse. Smaller aftershocks continued through the weekend — about 40 so far. 

A slew of new instruments is helping shed some light on whether this storm is producing only the usual downed limbs and trees, blowing trash cans and power outages — or if it has the potential for more serious damage.

Every summer, millions of migratory birds like the greater white-fronted goose descend on the National Petroleum Reserve, to lay eggs, molt their feathers and fatten up. A lot of the oil potential lies squarely in migratory bird habitat.

Alaska relies on topographic maps that are over 50 years old. These maps, some of which were hand-drawn, are rife with inaccuracies. Rivers flow upstream, mountains are out of place and some features are missing altogether. This year, Alaska hopes to take a big leap forward by completing new maps for over half of the state.

A massive landslide in Glacier Bay National Park more than a week ago is exciting scientists around the world for the way it was the detected, the images of the slide and the sheer magnitude of it.