It’s our constant companion, and influences life on Earth in ways big and small The moon is more than a bright, beautiful orb in the night sky. Our nearest neighbor also plays a big part in making the Earth a good place to live. Located an average of only 384,400Continue Reading
Scientists have identified the 19th form of water ice. The exotic, four-sided crystals of this rare ice variety, now dubbed ice XIX, form at ultra-low temperatures and ultra-high pressures. It only exists in laboratory experiments, but researchers say it reveals more about other forms of ice, which can be foundContinue Reading
Earth might have more layers than scientists thought. New research finds that there may be a hidden layer inside the Earth’s solid inner core — an inner-inner core, if you will. The precise nature of this layer is mysterious, but it could have something to do with changes in theContinue Reading
This is the condition in the atmosphere at a particular place and time. Weather (noun, “WEH-ther”) Weather refers to the state of the atmosphere in a particular place and at a particular time. People might talk about the weather in terms of the temperature, air pressure, wind speed or howContinue Reading
One simple rule of thumb: Give more than you take. Soil didn’t always exist. It grew slowly over the millennia as rocks weathered into smaller particles and dust. As land-dwelling organisms died, their decaying bodies added nutrients that would help glue particles together and absorb moisture. Soil science can nowContinue Reading
If Pope Joan — the infamous female pope of the 9th century – didn’t exist, you can see why someone would have had to invent her. For the Catholic Church, she became a story of why women should not be allowed to hold power; for the Protestants, she was aContinue Reading
If a planet you’d like to be, you must fulfill criteria three. Planet (noun, “PLAN-et”) These are more than rocky bodies orbiting the sun. Planets have to fulfill three criteria. First, they have to orbit a star in a predictable way. In our solar system, that star is the sun.Continue Reading
Tiny airborne particles, like those spewed by forest fires, can alter Earth’s temperature Wildfires have captured headlines around the globe in recent years. In 2018, California wildfires caused record destruction and death. But the area they incinerated would be eclipsed by fires in 2020. Some of those fires roared outContinue Reading
Scientists attached electrodes to the leaves of Venus flytraps to force them to snap shut. A new robotic grabber is ripped from the plant world. It’s made with a severed piece of a Venus flytrap. The novel device can grasp tiny, delicate objects. The Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is aContinue Reading
It was suspected, but it took seeing one in a distant galaxy to know for sure. Astrophysicists had thought that if a magnetar ever exploded, it would release one of the highest bursts of energy ever seen in the universe. But until now they could never prove it. Then oneContinue Reading