Earth
The Most Intense Lightning Ever Seen Came From Last Year's Tonga Volcano Eruption
The enormous undersea volcano that erupted in Tonga last year was record-breaking in many regards. It generated the highest-ever recorded…
Earth Might Have Formed in Just a Few Million Years
Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago. That simplistic statement is common, and it's a good starting point for understanding…
Did Life Need Plate Tectonics to Emerge?
It's widely accepted that Earth's plate tectonics are a key factor in life's emergence. Plate tectonics allows heat to move…
Geoengineering is Shockingly Inexpensive
Despite decades of warnings and international climate agreements, global carbon emissions are still rising. Carbon emissions seem like an unstoppable…
Phew, California’s Largest Reservoir is Nearly Full
California residents will be glad to know their reservoirs are nearly full again after years of drought. New satellite photos…
Is it Time for a New Definition of “Habitable?”
Things tend to move from the simple to the complex when you're trying to understand something new. This is the…
Solar Flares Could Have Helped Life Get Started on Earth
Stars emit powerful flares that can be deadly for any burgeoning life on nearby planets. Images from spacecraft that monitor…
Not Snowball Earth, More of a Slushball Earth
Our planet hasn't always been the warm, inviting place we know today. At least five times in its history, Earth…
A Human Migration to Space is NOT so Inevitable, says New Research
A new study looks at what it takes to survive beyond Earth, raising serious questions about whether or not human…
Water’s Epic Journey to Earth Began Before the Sun Formed
The origins of Earth's water is a complicated mystery that scientists have been untangling for decades. Life is impossible without…