Climate
What Deadly Venus Can Tell Us About Life on Other Worlds
Even though Venus and Earth are so-called sister planets, they're as different as heaven and hell. Earth is a natural…
Earth’s Long-Term Habitability Relies on Chemical Cycles. How Can We Better Understand Them?
We, and all other complex life, require stability to evolve. Planetary conditions needed to be benign and long-lived for creatures…
Can the Gaia Hypothesis Be Tested in the Lab?
During the 1970s, inventor/environmentalist James Lovelock and evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis proposed the Gaia Hypothesis. This theory posits that Earth…
In 250 Million Years, a Single Supercontinent will Form, Wiping Out Nearly all Mammals
A recent study published in Nature Geoscience uses supercomputer climate models to examine how a supercontinent, dubbed Pangea Ultima (also…
Could We Find Aliens Terraforming Other Worlds?
The first early humans to use fire had no inkling of what it would lead to. Fire was one of…
Scientists Have Been Underestimating the Asteroid That Created the Biggest Known Crater on Earth
Ancient impacts played a powerful role in Earth's complex history. On other Solar System bodies like the Moon or Mercury,…
Antarctica Lost an Ice Shelf, but Gained an Island
Collapsing ice shelves on the eastern coast of Antarctica has revealed something never seen before: a landform that might be…
Because of Extreme Drought, Lake Powell is Barely a Lake Anymore
The two largest reservoirs in the United States are now at their lowest levels since they were first created. After…
Scientists Simulate the Climate of Arrakis. It Turns Out Dune is a Pretty Realistic Exoplanet
Science fiction author Frank Herbert is renowned for the richly-detailed worlds he created. None of his work is more well-known…
Mars Might Have Lost its Water Quickly
Mars is an arid place, and aside from a tiny amount of water vapour in the atmosphere, all water exists…