Lava lamp tectonics: How giant blobs of subducted sediment float up through deep Earth
A University of Wyoming professor has used computer modeling to propose that sand and mud subducted off the coast of California around 75 million years ago returned to the Earth's crust by rising up through the mantle as enormous diapirs, like blobs.....»»
Nearly three years since launch, Webb is a hit among astronomers
Demand for observing time on Webb outpaces supply by a factor of nine. From its halo-like orbit nearly a million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope is seeing farther.....»»
SpaceX reveals date for next flight of Starship megarocket
The Elon Musk-led spaceflight company will attempt to catch the Super Heavy booster for a second time as it returns to Earth......»»
Experiment reveals how Earth"s magnetic field influences flow in planet"s core
A trio of physicists, two with Coventry University, in the U.K., and the third with Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses, in France, has demonstrated how Earth's magnetic field may be influencing internal flow, using what they descri.....»»
Ancient unicellular organism indicates embryonic development might have existed prior to animals" evolution
Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii. The first signs of its presence on Earth have been dated at over a billion years, well before the appearance of the first animals......»»
Mysterious Sydney beach blobs: Scientists uncover their complex composition
A multi-disciplinary team of scientists have made significant progress in understanding the origins of the mysterious black balls washing ashore on Sydney beaches......»»
"Shallow" sports and "deep" social hierarchies: Not all pecking orders are created equally
University of Michigan researchers have added a new dimension to the mathematics used to predict the outcomes of all manner of competitions, including sports, games and social hierarchies in both humans and animals......»»
Making farming better for bees: Can we breed crops that produce more nectar and pollen?
Where once there were vast areas of forest and other natural habitats, farmland now covers much of Earth—including 70% of the UK. This transition has helped feed a growing number of people......»»
Astronomers use JWST and ALMA to explore the structure of a giant spiral galaxy
Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), an international team of astronomers have observed a giant spiral galaxy designated ADF22.A1. Results of the observational campaign, published Oc.....»»
Microbial slime: The ultimate system to understand our planet
Billions of years ago, Earth was home to extreme environments, including intense UV radiation, frequent volcanic eruptions, and very high concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Yet, under these conditions, biofilms formed and within thes.....»»
Earth 2 at 30: A look back at NBC’s big swing at sci-fi in the early ’90s
A long-forgotten sci-fi series premiered on NBC 30 years ago this month, but it paved the way for some of the shows that came after it......»»
"The nastiest soils on Earth" are getting recognized as a bigger problem
Acid sulfate soils are characterized by their orange hue and their tendency to kill surrounding vegetation and fish. Anders Johnson's extensive research along Sweden's coastline reveals the widespread presence of these soils, underscoring their signi.....»»
Testing thousands of RNA enzymes helps find first "twister ribozyme" in mammals
The "RNA world" hypothesis proposes that the earliest life on Earth may have been based on RNA—a single-stranded molecule similar in many ways to DNA—like some modern viruses. This is because, like DNA, RNA can carry genetic information, but, lik.....»»
Earth underwent a massive, rapid melting period after the last global ice age, new study suggests
At the end of the last global ice age, the deep-frozen Earth reached a built-in limit of climate change and thawed into a slushy planet. Results from a Virginia Tech-led study provide the first direct geochemical evidence of the slushy planet—other.....»»
Next-generation space materials blast off for tests on ISS
A new generation of space materials left Earth on November 5 as they head to the International Space Station (ISS) to undergo testing in the brutal conditions of low Earth orbit......»»
Metal Slug Tactics gives turn-based strategy a hyper-stylized shot of adrenaline
It's a little rogue-lite, it's a bit '90s arcade, and it's surprisingly deep. Metal Slug Tactics pushes hard on the boundaries of the vaunted run-and-gun arcade series. You can ru.....»»
Moon waves goodbye to Hera
As ESA's Hera mission for planetary defense departed its homeworld, it looked back to Earth to show the moon orbiting around it. In this sequence of images the terrestrial disk gradually shrinks as the spacecraft recedes away from it, and the moon mo.....»»
The humble bumblebee just messed things up for Meta
The humble bumblebee has reportedly played a part in obstructing an ambitious construction project by tech giant Meta......»»
Portal to the past: Geologist identifies metamorphic rock as a crucial feature of the ancient Earth"s carbon cycle
If Earth's history were a calendar year, humans would not appear until the last few minutes before midnight on Dec. 31. During the Proterozoic Eon—2.5 billion years to 543 million years ago—the sun was still a young star, much dimmer than today,.....»»
Advanced AI techniques enhance crop leaf disease detection in tropical agriculture
Researchers have made significant progress in the field of artificial intelligence by applying deep learning techniques to automate the detection and classification of crop leaf diseases......»»
Apophis: A new European space mission could get up close with a large asteroid that"s set to brush by Earth
The European Space Agency has given the go-ahead for initial work on a mission to visit an asteroid called (99942) Apophis. If approved at a key meeting next year, the robotic spacecraft, known as the Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety (Ramses),.....»»