News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
A group of mysterious, ultradense structures just outside Earth’s core may be the remnants of an ancient interplanetary collision, new research suggests. These strange structures are known as ultralow-velocity zones (ULVZs), because seismic waves generated by earthquakes travel about 50% more slowly through these zones than through the surrounding mantle. That means the ULVZs are … Read more
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
Dominik Hülse, an Earth system modeler based at University of California Riverside, worked on a November 2021 study that explored how ancient microbes may have prolonged the Permian extinction by producing a toxic gas. Here, Hülse poses with a finger to his nose to highlight the toxic “rotten egg” scent of hydrogen sulfide. (Image credit: … Read more
A geological secret passage beneath Panama may explain why rocks from Earth’s mantle are found more than 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) from where they originated. This opening, located some 62 miles (100 km) below Earth‘s surface, may allow a flow of mantle materials to travel all the way from beneath the Galápagos Islands to beneath … Read more
Farmland is overtaking much of the planet. That’s the conclusion of a new satellite map, which finds that fields of corn, wheat, rice, and other crops have eaten up more than 1 million additional square kilometers of land over the past 2 decades. The study highlights how Earth’s land is becoming, in essence, a unified … Read more
Earth’s atmosphere is a thin band of air made up of numerous layers based on temperature. Without this protective blanket, life on Earth would not exist as it protects us from heat and radiation emitted from the sun and contains the air we breathe. Though oxygen is crucial for life on Earth, it is not … Read more
If you want to be dazzled by a spectacular northern lights display, your best bet is to skywatch near the North Pole. But that wasn’t the case 41,000 years ago, when a disruption of Earth’s magnetic field sent auroras wandering toward the equator. During this geomagnetic disturbance, known as the Laschamp event or the Laschamp excursion, … Read more
The moon is Earth’s most constant companion and the easiest celestial object to find in the night sky. The rhythm of the phases of the moon has guided humanity for millennia; for instance, calendar months are roughly equal to the time it takes to go from one full moon to the next. But the moon’s … Read more
A version of this story appeared in Science, Vol 374, Issue 6573. In August, as Iceland’s long summer days began to wane, Sölvi Thrastarson made his 10th visit to a volcano so young it lacks a name. Since it began to erupt in March on a peninsula a short drive south of Reykjavík, the volcano … Read more