Earth
A New Mass Extinction has been Discovered, Wiping Out Life 233 Million Years Ago, and Leading to the Rise of the Dinosaurs
Most everybody knows that the dinosaurs perished rapidly in a tumultuous extinction, caused by an asteroid strike about 66 million…
This is the View You Get Staring out of the Space Station’s Cupola Module
Those lucky few who have the incredible opportunity to see the Earth from space often report the view gives them…
Sunrises Across the Solar System
Scientists have learned a lot about the atmospheres on various worlds in our Solar System simply from planetary sunrises or…
Can you tell the difference between California, Venus, Titan and Mars? Hint: California is the one with buildings.
Californians woke up to an alien-looking sky this morning, Wednesday, September 9, 2020. (more…)
Did Snowball Earth Happen Because of a Sudden Drop in Sunlight?
Hundreds of millions of years ago, Earth went through two episodes of severe glaciation. These two episodes—the Sturtian and the…
Microbes Were Dormant for Over 100 Million Years, But They Were Able to Spring Back to Life
At the bottom of the ocean in the South Pacific Gyre, there's a sediment layer that is among the most…
Ancient Meteorites Can be Found Embedded in Rocks, Like Fossils
Comets visit the inner Solar System, and leave without saying goodbye. Maybe they leave a trail of dust behind, and…
China’s Mars Mission Took This Picture of the Earth and Moon
No matter where you are, where you’ve been and where you’re going, it’s always good to see home. And we…
What Cracked the Earth’s Outer Shell and Started its Plate Tectonics?
Earth's lithosphere is made up of seven large tectonic plates and a number of smaller ones. The theory of plate…
800 Million Years Ago, it Was Raining Asteroids on the Earth and Moon
Natural processes here on Earth continually re-shape the planet's surface. Craters from ancient asteroid strikes are erased in a short…