News
Antarctica has lost 5,000 square miles of 'grounded ice' in the last 30 years, satellite images reveal
1+ week, 1+ day ago (541+ words) "It's like the balloon that's not punctured everywhere, but where it is punctured, it's punctured deep." Night Sky This Week A sweeping new satellite analysis shows that Antarctica has lost nearly 5,000 square miles (12,950 square kilometers) of grounded ice over the…...
Rare glass from 6-million-year-old meteorite strike found in Brazil — but the crater is still missing
1+ week, 2+ day ago (769+ words) There are only a few known fields of tektites in the entire world. Night Sky This Week Brazil is host to a newly found field of natural glass created from meteorite impacts, according to a new study. The natural glass…...
Snowball Earth's liquid seas dipped way below freezing
1+ week, 4+ day ago (384+ words) Iron isotopes show that salty seawater pockets beneath the ice were as cold as "15C. Night Sky This Week This article was originally published at Eos. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. In Nature Communications,…...
Apollo moon rocks may have finally solved an old lunar mystery
1+ week, 6+ day ago (459+ words) Did the moon have a strong or weak magnetic field in its early history? We may now know the truth. Night Sky This Week For decades, planetary scientists have debated a fundamental question about the moon's early history: Did it…...
Antarctica's 'gravity hole' reveals the evolution of Earth's deep interior
2+ week, 1+ day ago (511+ words) A dip in Earth's gravity field beneath Antarctica is helping scientists track deep-Earth changes over tens of millions of years. A "gravity hole" beneath Antarctica is offering scientists a rare glimpse into Earth's deep interior, a dynamic record of slow-moving…...
Scientists measure air pollution from reentering SpaceX rocket in real-time: 'It's never been done before"
3+ week, 22+ hour ago (769+ words) "This study represents an important milestone in observing the influence of space sector activities on the atmosphere." For the first time ever, scientists have observed in near real time a cloud of air pollution created as space debris burned up…...
The way Earth's surface moves has a bigger impact on shifting the climate than we knew
1+ mon, 5+ day ago (771+ words) Space.com's Sci-Fi Reader's Club. Read a sci-fi short story every month and join a virtual community of fellow science fiction fans! Our planet has experienced dramatic climate shifts throughout its history, oscillating between freezing "icehouse" periods and warm "greenhouse…...
NASA's Juno spacecraft spots the largest volcanic eruption ever seen on Jupiter's moon Io
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (264+ words) "What makes the event even more extraordinary is that it did not involve a single volcano, but multiple active sources." The most violent volcanic cataclysm ever seen in our solar system has been witnessed on Jupiter's moon Io by NASA's…...
Super-Earth exoplanets may have built-in magnetic protection from churning magma — and that's good news for life
1+ mon, 2+ week ago (645+ words) "A strong magnetic field is very important for life on a planet." "Super-Earth" exoplanets may have an in-built way to protect themselves from harmful radiation, giving any potential life on such worlds a better chance of surviving, according to recent…...
Beneath the ice: Satellites help map Antarctica's subglacial surface like never before
1+ mon, 4+ week ago (325+ words) Understanding Antarctica's topography beneath the ice is crucial to predicting ice loss and sea level rise. One of the least-mapped planetary surfaces in our solar system is closer to home than you might expect: the continent of Antarctica. While Antarctica's…...