'Selfie'? Bah! 'Science' is the Word of the Year from Merriam-Webster. Look alive, selfie. There's another word of the year that's not all about you. While Oxford University Press, the British publisher of the Oxford dictionaries, declared those little smartphone self-portraits its winner last month, the folks at Merriam-Webster announced "science" on Tuesday. NBC 

Bruce Molnia's Repeat Photos of Alaska, and What He Says They Reveal About Our World. Photographing Alaska's stunning landscapes has been a passion of Bruce Molnia's since the first time he visited the 49th state, as a Cornell University graduate student in the late 1960s. While studying for his Ph.D. in geology - which would later lead him to a storied career with the U.S. Geological Survey in coastal, glacial, and ocean research - he came across the photos taken by the earliest American explorers of Alaska back in the early 1880s. Weather.com

An Update on Risks of Abrupt Jolts from Global Warming. [Opinion] In 2002, the National Academy of Sciences published "Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises," a valuable report examining whether and how the building human influence on the climate system might lead to disruptive jolts. The most important finding, in a way, was that this was an area sorely in need of intensified research. Most of the "monsters behind the door," to use an apt phrase from Stephen W. Pacala of Princeton, were plausible rather than probable. There were signs they'd escaped before (evidence of past abrupt changes), but only faint scratching could be heard now. New York Times

Defense Authorization Conferees Meet in Secret. The Senate has not passed its version of the National Defense Authorization Act - yet - but the main players in an NDAA conference aren't waiting. The chairmen and ranking members of the Senate and House Armed Services committees - House Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., House ranking member Adam Smith, D-Wash., Senate Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Senate ranking member James M. Inhofe, R-Okla. - met Monday to discuss how they could conference the defense authorization act in a nearly impossible timeline. Roll Call

Harper Orders New Draft of Arctic Seabed Claim to Include North Pole. Stephen Harper has ordered government bureaucrats back to the drawing board to craft a more expansive international claim for seabed riches in the Arctic after the proposed submission they showed him failed to include the geographic North Pole, The Globe and Mail has learned. The Arctic is believed to contain as much as one-quarter of the world's undiscovered energy resources, and countries are tabling scientific evidence with a United Nations commission to win rights to polar sea-floor assets. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, a country can secure control of ocean floor beyond the internationally recognized 200 nautical mile limit if it can demonstrate the seabed is an extension of its continental shelf. The Globe and Mail

Study Links Precipitation and Changing Arctic Temperatures to Decline in Peregrine Population. A latest study says that increase in the frequency of heavy rains is posing a threat to the population of the young peregrine falcons in Canada's Arctic. The study conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta, reveals that extensive rainfall brought on by warmer summer temperatures is a big threat to the Peregrines falcons in the Canadian Arctic. The species faced a similar threat before pesticides like DDT were banned in Canada. This is the first study to highlight the strong correlation between rainfall and the survival of the falcons in Canada. Science World Report

Finland Aims for Arctic Summit. State leaders, not only foreign ministers, should meet to discuss the future of a melting Arctic when Finland takes over the Chairmanship of Arctic Council in 2017. "Finland is actively considering further steps to strengthen the Council, with a view to our approaching Chairmanship in 2017. These include our proposal of organising a Summit between Arctic Council leaders, as well as our initiative to move the Council towards becoming a treaty-based organization," said Jyrki Katainen when he talked to leading Arctic stakeholders at Tuesday's conference "In the Spirit of the Rovaniemi Process." Barents Observer

Frog Abnormality Research Finds Location is Key. Increasing reports of deformed frogs and toads in the mid 90s, prompted Congress to mandate studies to look into the problem. Amphibians are sort of the canary in the coal mine for gauging the environmental health of land and surface water. The study was released in November, and looks at amphibian abnormalities on 152 wildlife refuges across the country, including five in Alaska. APRN