Earth

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Asteroid Size of Empire State Building Is About to Fly By Earth

2008 OS7 will come within 1.7M miles of our planet on Friday, though experts assure that it won't hit us

(Newser) - An asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday. But it's not on a collision course with us, as it will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon, per the AP . NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object...

The Impact Boiled the Ocean. But It Wasn't All Bad
The Impact Boiled the Ocean.
But It Wasn't All Bad
in case you missed it
Dec 24, 2023 7:39 AM CST

The Impact Boiled the Ocean. But It Wasn't All Bad

Scientists believe S2 impact held some benefits for early life 3.26B years ago

(Newser) - Billions of years before a smaller asteroid slammed Earth, triggering a global blackout that would wipe out the dinosaurs, a rock four times the size of Mount Everest made an even bigger splash. Researchers have long known about the impact, dubbed S2, which occurred 3.26 billion years ago, based...

With Temps in 2023, 'People Know That Things Are Weird'

Scientists at Climate Central report that last 12 months were likely hottest in 125K years

(Newser) - Don't feel like you've accomplished much over the last year? Check this off your list: "You've just lived through Earth's hottest 12 months on record." Not that anyone would want to put that on a T-shirt, but that's how the Washington Post describes...

We Have a Date for Mass Extinction of Mammals
We Have a Date for Mass
Extinction of Mammals
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 30, 2023 4:55 PM CDT

We Have a Date for Mass Extinction of Mammals

Research team predicts changing Earth could mean the end of humans in 250M years

(Newser) - We may be living at the halfway point of mammalian survival. That's according to a new study that poses a terrifying future for our planet that humans will likely find too hot to endure. Researchers expanded on a previous study that predicted landmasses would converge in about 250 million...

Earth Has Breached Its 'Safe Operating Space for Humanity'

Planet's climate, biodiversity, and other key measurments 'are all out of whack'

(Newser) - Earth is exceeding its "safe operating space for humanity" in six of nine key measurements of its health, and two of the remaining three are headed in the wrong direction, a new study said. Earth's climate, biodiversity, land, fresh water, nutrient pollution, and "novel" chemicals (human-made compounds...

China Drilling Project Like 'a Big Truck on 2 Thin Cables'

Work on nation's deepest borehole ever has begun to pull information out on the Earth's crust

(Newser) - In 2021, Chinese President Xi Jinping pinpointed deep Earth sciences as an important area he wanted to further explore. Now, his mission is coming to fruition: Scientists have started drilling a 32,000-foot borehole in the Taklamakan Desert, in China's Xinjiang region, which they hope will offer more insight...

Earth's Spinning Inner Core May Come to a Standstill
There May Be Something Big
Going On in Earth's Center
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jan 28, 2023 4:15 PM CST

There May Be Something Big Going On in Earth's Center

Scientists think inner core may come to standstill every 35 years, then start spinning other way

(Newser) - If you were born before 2009, you lived through a time when the center of the Earth stopped spinning. So say seismologists, who believe they've discovered a mysterious cycle that sees the inner metal core of the planet speed up, then decelerate and ultimately come to a standstill before...

Jaws Drop at NASA: The Moon Is Rusty
Jaws Drop
at NASA:
The Moon
Is Rusty
in case you missed it
Sep 12, 2020 11:00 AM CDT

Jaws Drop at NASA: The Moon Is Rusty

'At first, I totally didn't believe it'

(Newser) - Rust, on the moon? Scientists say they were shocked to find it lurking on the moon's polar surfaces, Space.com reports. "At first, I totally didn't believe it. It shouldn't exist based on the conditions present on the moon," says NASA scientist Abigail Fraeman, co-author...

Ancient Earth May Have Been 'Water World'
Ancient Earth May Have
Been 'Water World'
in case you missed it
Mar 7, 2020 10:29 AM CST

Ancient Earth May Have Been 'Water World'

Study suggests continents were nowhere to be found 3B years ago

(Newser) - Ready your Kevin Costner jokes : A new study suggests that ancient earth had no continents to speak of and was instead what scientists call a "water world," reports the Guardian . In this case, ancient refers to 3.2 billion years ago, and the study in Nature Geoscience is...

Last Month, a 'Rewrite of Climate History'

July 2019 was hottest month ever on Earth, climate agency confirms

(Newser) - "We have always lived through hot summers. But this is not the summer of our youth. This is not your grandfather's summer." That's what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters last week, and on Monday, final data came in to verify his assertion. The EU's...

It's True: The Closest Planet to Every Planet Is ... Mercury
It Turns Out Venus Is
Not Our Closest Neighbor
new study
Mar 15, 2019 9:07 AM CDT

It Turns Out Venus Is Not Our Closest Neighbor

On average, that is

(Newser) - File this one away for bar trivia night: The planet closest to Earth is not Venus. So say researchers in a paper in Physics Today touting the new mathematical method they devised that spit out the true nearest neighbor when distance is averaged over time: Mercury. And here's the...

Gotcha: Japanese Spacecraft Shoots Asteroid, Takes Sample

The mission will help scientists learn more about the formation of the solar system

(Newser) - In an audacious space success, a Japanese probe cruised to an asteroid 170 million miles away, fired a bullet into its surface, and collected samples from the bits that flew off. Around 6:30pm EST on Feb. 21, team members from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency gave the order to...

Earth's North Magnetic Pole Is Acting Screwy
For Earth's Magnetic Field,
a Rare Update
in case you missed it
Jan 19, 2019 3:30 PM CST

For Earth's Magnetic Field, a Rare Update

Northern pole is moving faster than expected, forcing change in navigational models

(Newser) - Attention anyone who navigates by compass, be they shipping companies, aircraft, or uber-serious hikers: North may not be where you think it is. The magnetic north, that is. Nature reports that the Earth's northern magnetic pole has moved so quickly since the last update of an official guide known...

Earth's Oldest Known Color Is Found
Earth's Oldest Known
Color Is Found
NEW STUDY
Jul 12, 2018 1:10 PM CDT

Earth's Oldest Known Color Is Found

It's 1.1 billion years old, and pink

(Newser) - Billion-year-old rocks pulled from deep below the Sahara Desert have revealed the earliest colored molecules found on Earth. They aren't black, brown, or even green. Instead, think pink. Nur Gueneli of Australian National University was examining molecules from crushed rocks discovered a decade ago by an oil company drilling...

By This New Measure, Plants Rule the Earth
By This New Measure,
Plants Rule the Earth
NEW STUDY
May 22, 2018 9:40 AM CDT

By This New Measure, Plants Rule the Earth

They outweigh all other life on the planet, by a mile

(Newser) - A first-of-its-kind study reveals that humans make up a minuscule portion of life on the planet. As in 0.01%, reports the Guardian . The flip side of that? Despite the scant figure, humans have reshaped the animal kingdom, helping wipe out about 83% of mammals and half of all plants...

This Is the Longest Line You Can Sail Without Hitting Land

It goes more than 19K miles, from Pakistan to Russia

(Newser) - Feel like getting away on the open sea for a long while? Get yourself a boat and head to Pakistan's coastal town of Sonmiani. From there, you can embark on the longest sailable straight line possible, reaching Russia's Karaginsky District some 19,940 miles away, according to researchers....

Scientists Capture Earth's Hum in Ocean
Earth's Hum Heard 
as Never Before
Dec 11, 2017 8:21 AM CST

Earth's Hum Heard as Never Before

Scientists capture it on ocean floor for the first time

(Newser) - The Earth hums , and scientists have for the first time recorded the sound in the ocean. Using seismometers in the Indian Ocean, researchers picked up on the sound that is way, way too low for mere human ears to hear, reports Live Science . No recording is available, but a Columbia...

Geologists Spot a Pattern, Predict Big Quakes in 2018
Geologists Spot a Pattern,
Predict Big Quakes in 2018
in case you missed it
Nov 25, 2017 6:14 PM CST

Geologists Spot a Pattern, Predict Big Quakes in 2018

Whenever the Earth's rotation slows, as it is now, an increase in major quakes follows

(Newser) - Two geologists may have spotted a surprisingly simple correlation that can help predict earthquakes—and if they're correct, the Earth is on track for an uptick in major quakes next year. The pair pored over a century's worth of a data on earthquakes and detected a pattern: When...

Researchers May Have Found Earliest Evidence of Life
Researchers May Have Found
Earliest Evidence of Life
study says
Sep 28, 2017 10:40 AM CDT

Researchers May Have Found Earliest Evidence of Life

Scientists say rocks in Canada have traces going back 4B years

(Newser) - Japanese researchers think they may have found the earliest evidence of life on Earth on rocks in Canada. In their study in Nature , the scientists from the University of Tokyo say they detected telltale traces of material left behind by decomposing organisms 3.95 billion years ago, reports the CBC...

Flashes Spotted by Carl Sagan Are Finally Explained
Flashes Spotted by Carl Sagan
Are Finally Explained
in case you missed it
May 20, 2017 5:22 PM CDT

Flashes Spotted by Carl Sagan Are Finally Explained

They're caused by floating ice crystals, says a new NASA study

(Newser) - About 25 years ago, astronomer Carl Sagan and his team noticed something a little odd about images coming back from the Galileo spacecraft: They showed glints of light seemingly coming from Earth. Now, a NASA study appears to have cracked the source of the mystery: floating ice crystals. In a...

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