Some icy exoplanets may have habitable oceans and geysers
A NASA study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, beneath icy shells. Water from these oceans could.....»»
The best shows on Disney+ right now (May 2024)
The best shows on Disney+ include Doctor Who, Star Wars: Tales of the Empire, Secrets of the Octopus, Drain the Oceans, X-Men '97, Renegade Nell, and more......»»
AI can help researchers understand what viruses are up to in the oceans and in your gut
Viruses are a mysterious and poorly understood force in microbial ecosystems. Researchers know they can infect, kill and manipulate human and bacterial cells in nearly every environment, from the oceans to your gut. But scientists don't yet have a fu.....»»
Unearthing the impacts of hydrological sensitivity on global rainfall
Georgia Tech researcher Jie He set out to predict how rainfall will change as Earth's atmosphere continues to heat up. In the process, he made some unexpected discoveries that might explain how greenhouse gas emissions will impact tropical oceans, af.....»»
Study reveals new mechanism to explain how continents stabilized
Ancient, expansive tracts of continental crust called cratons have helped keep Earth's continents stable for billions of years, even as landmasses shift, mountains rise and oceans form. A new mechanism proposed by Penn State scientists may explain ho.....»»
What can early Earth teach us about the search for life?
Earth is the only life-supporting planet we know of, so it's tempting to use it as a standard in the search for life elsewhere. But the modern Earth can't serve as a basis for evaluating exoplanets and their potential to support life. Earth's atmosph.....»»
Fluidic telescope (FLUTE): Enabling the next generation of large space observatories
The future of space-based UV/optical/IR astronomy requires ever larger telescopes. The highest priority astrophysics targets, including Earth-like exoplanets, first generation stars, and early galaxies, are all extremely faint, which presents an ongo.....»»
Weak magnetic field may have supported diversification of life on Earth
An unusual reduction in the strength of Earth's magnetic field between 591 and 565 million years ago coincided with a significant increase in the oxygen levels in the atmosphere and oceans, according to a paper published in Communications Earth & Env.....»»
New computer algorithm supercharges climate models and could lead to better predictions of future climate change
Earth System Models—complex computer models that describe Earth processes and how they interact—are critical for predicting future climate change. By simulating the response of our land, oceans and atmosphere to manmade greenhouse gas emissions,.....»»
Scientists find five new hydrothermal vents in Pacific Ocean
The pace of discovery in the oceans leaped forward thanks to teamwork between a deep-sea robot and a human occupied submarine leading to the recent discovery of five new hydrothermal vents in the eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean......»»
How did the early Great Barrier Reef manage rapid environmental change?
As the modern Great Barrier Reef emerged after the last ice age, it had to cope with multiple environmental stresses—rising sea levels, increased sediment from a flooding coastline, ocean turbulence and likely warming oceans......»»
Will we know if TRAPPIST-1e has life?
The search for extrasolar planets is currently undergoing a seismic shift. With the deployment of the Kepler Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), scientists discovered thousands of exoplanets, most of which were detec.....»»
A new electrochemical approach could reduce ocean acidity and remove carbon in the process
In the effort to combat the catastrophic impacts of global warming, we must accelerate carbon emissions reduction efforts and rapidly scale strategies to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and the oceans. The technologies for reducing ou.....»»
Mangrove blue carbon at higher risk of microplastic pollution
Earth's oceans and coastal ecosystems are a major sink for carbon storage, known as blue carbon. Sequestration of carbon is vitally important in the fight against climate change as it 'locks away' this molecule, alleviating pressure on greenhouse gas.....»»
Q&A: Why are we drowning in single-use plastics, and what can we do about it?
Plastic is ubiquitous. It's in the clothes we wear, wrapped around the food we eat and in the toothpaste we use. It floats in the oceans and litters the snow on Mount Everest......»»
The best shows on Disney+ right now (April 2024)
The best shows on Disney+ include Secrets of the Octopus, Drain the Oceans, X-Men '97, Renegade Nell, Queens, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Iwájú, and more......»»
How a cyanobacterium manages iron scarcity makes it the most successful photosynthetic organism on Earth
The sea is the world's largest ecosystem, and it harbors two photosynthetic organisms that produce approximately half of the oxygen on Earth. The cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus is the most abundant photosynthetic organism in the oceans and fixes appr.....»»
How to keep Earth from being cooked by the ever-hotter Sun
Here are two options for future humans to keep us in the habitable zone. I’d wager a guess that we are, as a species, rather fond of our home planet (our wanton carbon emissions notwithstanding). But the ugly truth is that the Eart.....»»
Scientists say coral reefs around the world are experiencing mass bleaching in warming oceans
Coral reefs around the world are experiencing global bleaching for the fourth time, top reef scientists declared Monday, a result of warming ocean waters amid human-caused climate change......»»
Hydrogen recombination found to be most plausible explanation for high levels of energy in stellar superflares
Although their primary purpose is to look for exoplanets, observatories like the Kepler Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have supplied a vast amount of data on stellar flares, detected with high-precision photometr.....»»
Exoplanets true to size: New model calculations shows impact of star"s brightness and magnetic activity
In the constellation Virgo, 700 light years away from Earth, the planet WASP-39b orbits the star WASP-39. The gas giant, which takes little more than four days to complete one orbit, is one of the best-studied exoplanets. Shortly after its commission.....»»