Our Daily Planet: Deadly Tornado Strikes Missouri and Iceland's Volcano

Each weekday morning, OurAmazingPlanet takes the pulse of the Earth, reporting on natural phenomena and exploration news from around the globe.

Deadly Tornado: A powerful twister ripped through Joplin, Missouri around dinner time yesterday (May 22), killing 89 people and leaving a nearly six-mile (10-kilometer)-wide swath of utter destruction in its path.

More Deadly Weather: Severe thunderstorms and a tornado hit Minneapolis, Minnesota, yesterday (May 22), killing one person and injuring 30 others. Thunderstorms, some of them severe, are predicted to continue today in much of the Midwest, portions of the Northeast, and parts of the South.

Iceland Volcano: Although the Grimsvotn volcano has left a layer of thick ash on Reykjavik streets, the eruption isn't expected to have the same devastating effect on air traffic as last year's eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano.

Antarctic Expedition Returns: More than 200 scientists aboard Polarstern, a large research vessel , returned to dry land after seven months at sea near Antarctica. The researchers brought back plenty of amazing pictures, and evidence the region's waters are warming.

Previously on Our Daily Planet: May 21 Doomsday Prediction and the CDC's Zombie Plan

Reach OurAmazingPlanet staff writer Brett Israel at bisrael@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @btisrael.