earth

A Giant Asteroid Bigger Than The Empire State Building Is About to Zip Past Earth

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A large, rocky asteroid is going to fly by Earth next week. At 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) long, it’s roughly two and a half times the height of the Empire State Building, and it’s been classed a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” due to its size and its regular close visits to our planet.   But don’t … Read more

Mysterious Anomalies Deep Within Our Planet May Have Lingered Since Earth’s Creation

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Chemical leftovers from the very earliest days of our planet could still be present near Earth’s core, according to new research, and the discovery could improve our understanding of plate tectonics phenomena happening today.   The team behind the study compares these leftovers to clumps of flour at the bottom of a bowl of batter … Read more

Happy perihelion! Earth reached its closest point to the sun today.

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The sun is just a little bit closer in Earth’s sky right now. Earth is at its closest to the sun Tuesday (Jan. 4) in its 365.25-day journey. This milestone, called perihelion, coincidentally happens near the start of the Gregorian calendar year observed by much of the world, including in North America. The exact moment … Read more

Prehistoric Volcanoes Heated Earth in a Global Chain Reaction

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Climate experts have warned for decades of “tipping points” at which modern global warming might cause a cascade of accelerating, irreversible effects. Now geologists are beginning to identify similar junctures in the fossil record. For example, around 56 million years ago—when our small primate ancestors still hopped through the trees—volcanic eruptions may have sparked hothouse … Read more

Biologist E. O. Wilson Dies at 92. His Legacy Is More Critical Now Than Ever

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E. O. Wilson was an extraordinary scholar in every sense of the word. Back in the 1980s, Milton Stetson, the chair of the biology department at the University of Delaware, told me that a scientist who makes a single seminal contribution to his or her field has been a success.   By the time I … Read more

Darkness caused by dino-killing asteroid snuffed out life on Earth in 9 months

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The years following the asteroid impact that wiped out non-avian dinosaurs were dark times — literally. Soot from raging wildfires filled the sky and blocked the sun, directly contributing to the wave of extinctions that followed, new research has found. After the asteroid struck, around 66 million years ago, the cataclysm extinguished many forms of … Read more

China Accuses US of Unsafe Space Conduct After Near-Miss With Elon Musk’s Starlink

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Beijing on Tuesday accused the United States of irresponsible and unsafe conduct in space over two “close encounters” between the Chinese space station and satellites operated by Elon Musk‘s SpaceX.   Tiangong, China’s new space station, had to maneuver to avoid colliding with one Starlink satellite in July and with another in October, according to … Read more

Do Auroras Make Sounds We Can Hear? The True Answer Is Surprisingly Complicated

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It’s a question that has puzzled observers for centuries: do the fantastic green and crimson light displays of the aurora borealis produce any discernible sound? Conjured by the interaction of solar particles with gas molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, the aurora generally occurs near Earth’s poles, where the magnetic field is strongest. Reports of the aurora … Read more

The ‘Somalaya Mountains’ Might Be The Biggest Mountain Range You’ll Never Get to See

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Every geography schoolbook has them: maps that look like today’s Earth, but not quite, since all continents are merged into a single supercontinent. Those maps were used to explain why dinosaurs in South America and Africa, or North America and Europe looked so alike.   Paleogeographic reconstructions like these provide context to study the processes … Read more