1+ hour, 38+ min ago   (404+ words) We usually depict the early Earth as a restless planet, exposed to ultraviolet radiation, struck by lightning, and constantly hit by meteorites. These widespread energy sources are typically thought to have played a role in forming life’s building blocks. But…...

1+ week, 21+ hour ago   (377+ words) Mars has always been a planet of contrasts. Its northern hemisphere is a vast, flat lowland, while the southern half is rugged with towering mountains and deep craters. Now scientists have discovered that this asymmetry extends deep beneath the surface:…...

3+ week, 3+ day ago   (451+ words) Long before dark sunspots appear on the Sun’s surface, subtle signals ripple beneath. Once these latent percolations are complete, it signals the emergence of active regions, highly magnetically concentrated locales from which solar flares and eruptions can occur. Now, researchers…...

1+ mon, 2+ day ago   (294+ words) One of Pluto’s most striking landmarks is Sputnik Planitia, a massive glacier filled with frozen nitrogen ice. It covers more than a million square kilometers, about the size of Texas, and forms part of the planet’s famous “heart-shaped” feature seen…...

1+ mon, 4+ week ago   (443+ words) Some of the oldest volcanic rocks on Earth have revealed a secret deep in Western Australia: More than three billion years ago, water was already at work shaping our planet’s interior. An international team led by Dr Eric Vandenburg, geochemist…...

2+ mon, 3+ week ago   (408+ words) Southern California is, in most ways, a geological paradox. Over a century has passed since the last significant break affected large parts of Los Angeles, but tectonic tension still grips the ground below. This growing strain, centered on the southern…...

3+ mon, 1+ week ago   (491+ words) Thanks to satellites like ESA’s Swarm and CryoSat, researchers gathered detailed measurements of small changes in the strength of Earth’s magnetic field. The team analyzed almost 30 years (1997–2025) of data collected by ground stations and satellite missions, including ESA’s Swarm and…...

5+ mon, 2+ week ago   (493+ words) The surface of the Earth is composed of tectonic plates that slowly move around over geologic time, creating continents and oceans, and influencing climates. But scientists have debated for decades when this shift began. Some theories suggest that Earth’s crust…...

5+ mon, 3+ week ago   (580+ words) Astronomers have discovered an entirely new kind of planet outside our Solar System, one with a colossal ocean of molten rock underneath its surface. The finding upends current systems for categorizing distant planets. The new planet, called L 98-59 d, was…...

5+ mon, 3+ week ago   (569+ words) Between 1.0 and 3.6 billion years ago, many studies suggest the Moon either had a very weak magnetic field or none at all. But for the period between 3.6 and 3.85 billion years ago, evidence from NASA’s Apollo Mission shows something different: some rocks…...