White ants: The Earth"s backboneless backbone
The first thoughts that probably come to mind when you read the words "white ant" are images of house destruction, wood damage, pest control, and spending money! While white ants are in fact a major structural and agricultural pest, they are among th.....»»
Earth will have a temporary "mini moon" for two months
Earth's moon will soon have some company—a "mini moon.".....»»
SpaceX launches mission to bring Starliner astronauts back to Earth
SpaceX is bringing back propulsive landings with its Dragon capsule, but only in emergencies. Enlarge / SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft climbs away from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, on Saturday atop a Falcon 9 roc.....»»
SpaceX set to launch mission to bring Starliner astronauts back to Earth
SpaceX is bringing back propulsive landings with its Dragon capsule, but only in emergencies. Enlarge / SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft is ready for launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Spa.....»»
Geologists discover mysterious subduction zone beneath Pacific, reshaping understanding of Earth"s interior
University of Maryland scientists uncovered evidence of an ancient seafloor that sank deep into Earth during the age of dinosaurs, challenging existing theories about Earth's interior structure. Located in the East Pacific Rise (a tectonic plate boun.....»»
How to spot the ‘comet of the century’ next month
Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas is passing by the sun and will soon pass by Earth, and could be a spectacularly bright object by mid-October......»»
Scientists use drones to track white sharks along California beaches
The forecast at the beach today is cloudy, with a chance of sharks. At least, that's the forecast that researchers at UC Santa Barbara would like to be able to provide. They're leading a project to predict when and where great white sharks show up ne.....»»
Ryugu samples call into question previous ideas about the formation of carbon-rich asteroids
Asteroid Ryugu possibly did not travel as far from its place of origin to its current near-Earth orbit as previously assumed. New research published in the journal Science Advances suggests that Ryugu was formed near Jupiter......»»
Ars in San Jose recap: Infrastructure, sustainability, AI, cocktails
We came, we saw, we talked, we schmoozed, we toured the Computer History Museum! Enlarge / Dr. John Timmer, Jeff Ball, Joanna Wong, and Lee Hutchinson discussing infrastructure and the environment. (credit: Kimberly White/Getty I.....»»
NASA confirms space station cracking a “highest” risk and consequence problem
NASA and Roscosmos have not agreed on the point at which the leak rate is untenable. Enlarge / A high-resolution commercial Earth-imaging satellite owned by Maxar captured this view of the International Space Station on June 7 wi.....»»
Marine dust identifies 1.5 million year Oldest Ice near South America
Earth's climate has experienced major shifts over its billions of years of history, including numerous periods where ice proliferated across the planet. Today, ice cores can be a valuable resource for understanding these periods of Earth's history as.....»»
Study uncovers first evidence of a volcanic spatter cone on Mars
While working under Erika Rader, an assistant professor in the Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences at University of Idaho, a postdoctoral researcher identified a volcanic vent on Mars as a potential spatter cone and compared it to a spatter cone.....»»
Study suggests moon may have been captured from space rather than formed from collision particles
Over six missions to the moon, from 1969 to 1972, Apollo astronauts collected more than 800 pounds of lunar rock and soil. Chemical and isotopic analysis of that material showed that it was similar to the rock and soil on Earth: calcium-rich, basalti.....»»
Plane contrails: white fluffy contributors to global warming
The white, feathery lines behind airplanes that look like bits of harmless cloud are anything but, warn experts, who say they could have a greater environmental impact than the aviation sector's CO2 emissions......»»
Existence of an Earth-like planet around a dead sun offers hope for our planet"s ultimate survival
The discovery of an Earth-like planet 4,000 light years away in the Milky Way galaxy provides a preview of one possible fate for our planet billions of years in the future, when the sun has turned into a white dwarf, and a blasted and frozen Earth ha.....»»
Researchers explore novel approach to map forest dieback in satellite images
Forests and woodlands cover one third of Earth's surface and play a critical role in carbon sequestration, water regulation, timber production, soil protection, and biodiversity conservation. Accelerated by climate change, the decline of these and ot.....»»
Climate change is easier to study when it"s presented as a game, says researcher
Climate change is among the more difficult but important topics to teach to young people. It involves complicated science and data, and it can be really depressing, given the bleak picture it paints of Earth's future......»»
OpenAI asked US to approve energy-guzzling 5GW data centers, report says
OpenAI stokes China fears to woo US approvals for huge data centers, report says. Enlarge (credit: Anadolu / Contributor | Anadolu) OpenAI hopes to convince the White House to approve a sprawling plan that would place 5-.....»»
How a nearby supernova left its mark on Earth life
When a massive star explodes as a supernova, it does more than release an extraordinary amount of energy. Supernovae explosions are responsible for creating some of the heavy elements, including iron, which is blasted out into space by the explosion......»»
Nuking a huge asteroid could save Earth, lab experiment suggests
Humanity could use a nuclear bomb to deflect a massive, life-threatening asteroid hurtling towards Earth in the future, according to scientists who tested the theory in the laboratory by blasting X-rays at a marble-sized "mock asteroid"......»»
Sound provides new information about the secret lives of sperm whales
Sperm whales are the loudest animals on Earth and rely on sound to find food in the sprawling darkness of the deep sea. MBARI technology allows us to listen in, gaining new insight into the mysterious lives of these animals......»»