Earth
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…
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…
Organic Matter Could Have Delivered Earth’s Water
The origin of Earth's water is a big piece of the puzzle in Earth's history. Did it come from comets…
This Giant Iceberg Has Been Sailing the Southern Seas for Three Years Now
An iceberg that calved off of from a larger ice formation has spent three years floating on the ocean near…
Even If We Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions Tomorrow, it Would Take Decades for the Earth to Start Cooling Again
If—or hopefully when—we cut our Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, we won't notice much difference in the climate. The Earth's natural…
The Moon Might Be More Metal-Rich Than We Thought
A new study shows that the Moon is more metal-rich than previously thought. That has some far-reaching implications for our…
Last Year’s Total Solar Eclipse on Earth, Seen From the Moon
On July 2, 2019, the Moon cast its shadow on the surface of the Earth. This time, the shadow's path…
It Should Be Easiest to Search for Young Earth-like Planets When They’re Completely Covered in Magma
How did Earth evolve from an ocean of magma to the vibrant, life-supporting, blue jewel it is now? In its…