Earth Archives - Page 2 of 4

Two Fragments of Protoplanet Theia Lie Deep within Earth, Geoscientists Say

By Enrico de Lazaro November 1, 2023

A giant collision between the ancient protoplanet Theia and the proto-Earth about 4.5 billion years ago may have formed Earth’s Moon as well as two continent-sized regions — formally known…

Moon is Nearly 40 Million Years Older than Previously Thought

By News Staff October 24, 2023

By analyzing tiny lunar zircon crystals gathered by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, planetary scientists recalculated the age of the Moon. Although previous assessments estimated the Moon as 4.425 billion…

Comet Airburst Initiated Transition to Agriculture 12,800 Years Ago, Scientists Say

By News Staff October 16, 2023

Around 12,800 years ago, Earth collided with fragments of a disintegrating comet, triggering Younger Dryas climate change; this event created environmental conditions at Abu Hureyra, Syria, that favored the earliest…

Severe Space Weather Events Disrupt Nocturnal Bird Migrations, Researchers Find

By News Staff October 11, 2023

Earth’s magnetic field is occasionally but regularly impacted by bursts of energy from the Sun (space weather), such as coronal mass ejections. Birds and other animals depend on the geomagnetic…

Extreme Solar Storm Hit Our Planet 14,300 Years Ago, Subfossil Tree-Rings Show

By News Staff October 9, 2023

In new research, scientists from the University of Leeds and elsewhere measured radiocarbon levels in ancient trees preserved within the eroded banks of the Drouzet River in the Southern French…

Novel AI Technique Reveals Sample’s Biological or Non-Biological Origin with 90% Accuracy

By News Staff September 26, 2023

The search for definitive biosignatures — unambiguous markers of past or present life — is a central goal of paleobiology and astrobiology. A team of researchers led by the Carnegie…

High-Energy Electrons from Earth’s Plasma Sheet May Be Forming Water on Lunar Surface

By News Staff September 18, 2023

Planetary scientists from the University of Hawaii and elsewhere suggest that although they have confirmed the importance of the solar wind as a major source of water production on the…

NASA’s UAP Study Team Releases Its Final Report

By News Staff September 18, 2023

On September 14, 2023, the NASA Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena independent study team published its final report containing a series of recommendations for how the agency could help to move our…

Auroral Mechanisms May Be Universal throughout Our Solar System

By News Staff July 18, 2023

An analysis of data obtained during the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft’s first Mercury flyby reveals that Mercury’s southern magnetosphere aurorae are similar to those seen on Earth and Mars. An artist’s…

Tiny Fragments of Interstellar Meteor May Have Been Found in Pacific Ocean

By Natali Anderson July 10, 2023

Harvard University’s Professor Avi Loeb and colleagues have discovered at least 50 tiny spherical iron fragments near the fireball path of the first recognized interstellar meteor, IM1. Tiny meteoritic spherules…