The iron rock’s journey from the depths of space ended with a thud in a dense pine forest, about an hour north of Stockholm, around 10 on a November night four years ago. Unusually, its trajectory was caught on several cameras in the region used to track meteoroids. That led to a weekslong hunt and […]
Read MoreTag: Geology
It’s Not Officially the Anthropocene but Humans Have Changed the Planet
Coming after nearly 15 years of deliberation, a ruling by geologists on Tuesday feels almost anticlimactic: Our species has not so radically altered our world as to have started a new chapter in its history, at least not yet, a scholarly panel decided. But even if textbooks and research papers don’t feature the “Anthropocene” epoch […]
Read MoreAre We in the ‘Anthropocene,’ the Human Age? Nope, Scientists Say.
The Triassic was the dawn of the dinosaurs. The Paleogene saw the rise of mammals. The Pleistocene included the last ice ages. Is it time to mark humankind’s transformation of the planet with its own chapter in Earth history, the “Anthropocene,” or the human age? Not yet, scientists have decided, after a debate that has […]
Read MoreThe Comet Strike Theory That Just Won’t Die
In 2007, a group of researchers, led by a nuclear physicist named Richard Firestone, announced an astonishing discovery. They had uncovered evidence, they said, that 12,900 years ago, a comet — or possibly a whole fleet of comets — struck Earth and changed the course of history. For the preceding two and a half million […]
Read MoreStudy determines the original orientations of rocks drilled on Mars
As it trundles around an ancient lakebed on Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is assembling a one-of-a-kind rock collection. The car-sized explorer is methodically drilling into the Red Planet’s surface and pulling out cores of bedrock that it’s storing in sturdy titanium tubes. Scientists hope to one day return the tubes to Earth and analyze their […]
Read MoreUnlocking history with geology and genetics
Fatima Husain grew up in the heart of the Midwest, surrounded by agriculture. “Every time you left your home, you saw fields of corn and soybeans. And it was really quite beautiful,” she says. During elementary school, she developed her own love of gardening and cultivated a small plot in her family’s backyard. “Having the […]
Read MoreQ&A: What sets the recent Japan earthquake apart from others?
On Jan. 1, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck the western side of Japan on the Noto Peninsula, killing over 200 people. Japan is prone to earthquakes, including a magnitude 9.1 earthquake in 2011 that triggered a tsunami and killed almost 20,000 people. William Frank, the Victor P. Starr Career Development Professor in the Department of […]
Read MoreCan $500 Million Save This Glacier?
Moore realizes the area around Thwaites is as forbidding as any location on Earth. “So this is something when people say, you know, it’s really difficult working in Antarctica, I say: yeah, well, I have abandoned ship because it’s been stuck in the ice,” he says, referring to his first trip there. “I do know […]
Read More‘World’s Oldest Pyramid’? A Study’s Claim Troubles Archaeologists
In a mountainous corner of Indonesia lies a hill, dotted with stone terraces, where people come from around the country to hold Islamic and Hindu rituals. Some say the site has a mystical air, or even that it might hold buried treasure. The partially excavated site, Gunung Padang, is a relaxing place to spend an […]
Read MoreHow Darwin Found Inspiration on the Cape Verde Islands
Charles Darwin was 22 years old when he first peeled a banana. “Maukish & sweet with little flavor,” he noted in his journal from Santiago, the main island in the Cape Verde archipelago off the coast of West Africa. He preferred oranges and tamarinds, feasting at every opportunity on tropical fruit after three awful weeks […]
Read MoreScientists Have Solved the Mystery of a Strange ‘Signal’ from Earth’s Core, Study Reports
Image: Rost-9D via Getty Images ABSTRACT breaks down mind-bending scientific research, future tech, new discoveries, and major breakthroughs. Scientists in China say they’ve solved a major mystery deep inside the Earth by confirming that the inner core wobbles with a predictable rhythm that repeats every 8.5 years. The research team says that the finding confirms previous […]
Read MoreA mineral produced by plate tectonics has a global cooling effect, study finds
MIT geologists have found that a clay mineral on the seafloor, called smectite, has a surprisingly powerful ability to sequester carbon over millions of years. Under a microscope, a single grain of the clay resembles the folds of an accordion. These folds are known to be effective traps for organic carbon. Now, the MIT team […]
Read MoreBoom, crackle, pop: Sounds of Earth’s crust
If you could sink through the Earth’s crust, you might hear, with a carefully tuned ear, a cacophany of booms and crackles along the way. The fissures, pores, and defects running through rocks are like strings that resonate when pressed and stressed. And as a team of MIT geologists has found, the rhythm and pace […]
Read MoreNaci Gorur, Famous in Turkey for Earthquake Warnings, Wishes More People Listened
The news that a powerful earthquake had struck southern Turkey first reached the eminent geologist in a pre-dawn video call from a phone number he did not recognize. Barely awake, he answered to find himself face-to-face with a woman and her daughter trapped in the rubble of their collapsed home. “Professor, please save us,” he […]
Read MoreAncient Amazonians intentionally created fertile “dark earth”
The Amazon river basin is known for its immense and lush tropical forests, so one might assume that the Amazon’s land is equally rich. In fact, the soils underlying the forested vegetation, particularly in the hilly uplands, are surprisingly infertile. Much of the Amazon’s soil is acidic and low in nutrients, making it notoriously difficult […]
Read MoreSatellite Data Yields Clues to Morocco’s ‘Blind Earthquake’
Just before sunrise on Monday, a satellite peered down on regions of Morocco that had been damaged by an earthquake Friday night. The data it gathered from 430 miles above Earth is offering scientists critical clues that will help unravel the mechanics behind the quake, including pinning down the specific fault that ruptured. Key data […]
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