Did Venus ever have oceans?
The planet Venus can be seen as the Earth's evil twin. At first sight, it is of comparable mass and size as our home planet, similarly consists mostly of rocky material, holds some water and has an atmosphere. Yet, a closer look reveals striking diff.....»»
Does lightning strike on Venus? Maybe not, study suggests
Venus may be a (slightly) gentler place than some scientists give it credit for......»»
Jellyfish: Our complex relationship with the oceans" anti-heroes
Ding! The courier hands me an unassuming brown box with "live animals" plastered on the side. I begin carefully unboxing. The cardboard exterior gives way to a white polystyrene clamshell, cloistering a pearly sphere-shaped, water-filled bag. Lightly.....»»
Did animal evolution begin with a predatory lifestyle?
Were the first animals predators or filter feeders like the sponges living in today's oceans? And what role did symbiosis with algae play, as with reef-building corals? Surprising findings by a research group led by Prof. Dr. Thomas W. Holstein of He.....»»
Superbolts: Scientists figure out what causes Earth"s strongest lightning
Superbolts are more likely to strike the closer a storm cloud's electrical charging zone is to the land or ocean's surface, a new study finds. These conditions are responsible for superbolt "hotspots" above some oceans and tall mountains......»»
Keck Cosmic Web Imager offers best glimpse yet of the filamentous network that connects galaxies
Like rivers feeding oceans, streams of gas nourish galaxies throughout the cosmos. But these streams, which make up a part of the so-called cosmic web, are very faint and hard to see. While astronomers have known about the cosmic web for decades, and.....»»
Accounting for oxygen in modeling coastal ecosystems
Driven by climate change and pollution, the decline of oxygen levels in oceans is altering biogeochemical cycles, threatening marine plants, animals and ecosystems. But how accurately are we projecting the fate of marine life? If models of marine eco.....»»
Tropical climates are the most biodiverse on Earth, but it"s not only because of how warm and wet they are
Life exists in every conceivable environment on Earth, from the peaks of towering mountains to the remote stretches of isolated islands, from sunlit surfaces to the darkest depths of the oceans. Yet, this intricate tapestry of existence isn't spread.....»»
Study sheds new light on strange lava worlds
Lava worlds, massive exoplanets home to sparkling skies and roiling volcanic seas called magma oceans, are distinctly unlike the planets in our solar system......»»
Exploring the effect of water on seismic wave attenuation in the upper mantle
The oceanic lithosphere, which constitutes the top layer including Earth's crust and mantle below the oceans, has long intrigued scientists due to its peculiar behavior. This layer appears to glide over a weaker region below called the asthenosphere,.....»»
AI predicts sea surface temperature cooling during tropical cyclones
Tropical cyclones are extreme weather events, characterized by a circular form and formation over warm tropical oceans experiencing low atmospheric pressure, high winds and heavy rain. Tropical storms exceed 39 miles per hour (mph), while hurricanes.....»»
Data show container deposit schemes reduce rubbish on our beaches
Our beaches are in trouble. Limited recycling programs and a society that throws away so much have resulted in more than 3 million metric tons of plastic polluting the oceans. An estimated 1.5–1.9% of this rubbish ends up on beaches......»»
Environmental physicist discusses marine heat waves
An extraordinary heat wave is assailing the world's oceans with an intensity that is surprising climate researchers. Environmental physicist Nicolas Gruber provides some context......»»
Revealing the role of anthropogenic water regulation in shaping riverine dissolved organic carbon fluxes
Riverine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) plays a crucial role in supporting microbial ecosystems in rivers and oceans while also contributing to greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater systems......»»
Venus on Earth: NASA"s VERITAS science team studies volcanic Iceland
With its crushing atmospheric pressure, clouds of sulfuric acid, and searing surface temperature, Venus is an especially challenging place to study. But scientists know that observing its surface can provide key insights into the habitability and evo.....»»
Researchers discover a new species of larger benthic foraminifer from the Ryukyu islands
Foraminifera are tiny, single-celled organisms that live in the oceans. Their hard shells, made of calcium carbonate, can withstand the test of time and their fossils reveal a lot about Earth's history, including past climates and environments......»»
Rivers are rapidly warming, losing oxygen: Aquatic life at risk, study finds
Rivers are warming and losing oxygen faster than oceans, according to a Penn State-led study published in the journal Nature Climate Change. The study shows that of nearly 800 rivers, warming occurred in 87% and oxygen loss occurred in 70%......»»
Flashes of light in Venusian atmosphere may be meteors, not lightning
A team of planetary scientists at Arizona State University has found evidence that the multitude of bright flashes in Venus' atmosphere may be due to meteors passing through, not lightning strikes. In their paper published in Journal of Geophysical R.....»»
A Flesh-Eating Bacterium Is Creeping North as Oceans Warm
The Vibrio vulnificus pathogen thrives in hot coastal waters, and beachgoers can contract it via a small cut or scrape. It can also kill them in two days......»»
Marine heat waves don"t just hit coral reefs. They can cause chaos on the seafloor
Most of us know what a heat wave feels like on land—sweltering heat for days. But oceans get heat waves too. When water temperature goes over a seasonal threshold for five days or more, that's a marine heat wave. They do their worst damage in summe.....»»
Are deep blue seas fading? Oceans turn to new hue across parts of Earth, study finds
A large swath of Earth's oceans changed color over the past 20 years—and human activity is suspected to have caused it, a new study reports......»»