On warmer Earth, most of Arctic may remove, not add, methane
Mosaic of images of the Arctic by MODIS. Credit: NASA In addition to melting icecaps and imperiled wildlife, a significant concern among scientists is that higher Arctic temperatures brought about by...
View ArticleGhostly Particles Detected Beneath Earth
The researchers detected neutrinos in Earth's mantle using the Borexino detector buried under a mountain at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. Credit: Courtesy: INFN – Gran Sasso National...
View ArticleYes, Even the Equator Can Get Slammed by Solar Storms
On Jan. 7, 2014, the sun unleashed a major solar flare and coronal mass ejection (the bright spot at center right), but the Earth's magnetic field channeled the worst of the solar storm away from the...
View ArticleEarth’s mineralogy unique in the cosmos
The mineral hazenite, named after Robert Hazen, which is only found in one locality, Mono Lake, Calif. Like hazenite, 22 percent of known minerals are found in just one locality. Credit: Hexiong Yang...
View ArticleResearch calls for rethink of Alpine Fault
Enlarge The major fault line, which runs almost the entire length of the South Island, has been assumed to be a near vertical crack. However, studies of seismic data have revealed the fault line...
View ArticleNorth America’s tallest mountain gets new name—and height
North America’s tallest mountain doesn’t just have a new name. It also has a new elevation. Denali, the Alaska mountain formerly known Mount McKinley, is now officially 10 feet shorter, measuring...
View ArticleIs old rock really as ‘solid as a rock’?
A composite image of the Western hemisphere of the Earth. Credit: NASA In the course of billions of years continents break up, drift apart, and are pushed back together again. The cores of continents...
View ArticleScientists discover how tectonic plates collide
Researchers have discovered how tectonic plates first collided in one of the world’s largest deep sea trenches. One of the biggest questions yet to be answered about plate tectonics is how do...
View ArticleGlobally unique double crater identified in Sweden
Credit: by Don Dixon, copyright Erik Sturkell. Enlarge Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have found traces of two enormous meteorite impacts in the Swedish county of Jämtland, a twin strike...
View ArticleGreen Arabia’s key role in human evolution
Whilst the interior of the Arabian Peninsula is dry today, it was once lush and green Scientists have been illuminating the vital role played by the Arabian Peninsula in humankind’s exodus from Africa....
View Article