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NEWS ABOUT: Earth

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NASA Releases Flip Side of High-Res Earth Image

New 'Blue Marble' image focuses on eastern hemisphere

(Newser) - NASA released its 2012 version of the "Blue Marble" image of earth from space last month, and it went viral in a hurry. What to do for an encore? Show the other side. The first image focused on the western hemisphere. Citing huge demand, NASA this week released a... More »

Thank Moss for Livable Planet

Plant may have prompted major shift in ancient climate

(Newser) - About 480 million years ago, the planet was a much hotter place—and we have moss to thank for the habitable Earth we enjoy today, research suggests. Back then, 16 times as much carbon dioxide existed in the atmosphere, scientists think. Some 20 million years later, carbon dioxide levels had... More »

NASA Has 'Most Amazing' Blue Marble Photo Yet

Agency releases new high-resolution image of Earth

(Newser) - Fans of NASA's "Blue Marble" images of Earth have a new gem to marvel at, notes Gizmodo . The agency has released on its Flickr stream what it calls the "most amazing, highest resolution image of Earth ever." It's a composite taken by a newly launched... More »

Space Telescope Spots Earth-Sized Worlds

Kepler discoveries are smallest exoplanets yet found

(Newser) - For the first time, scientists have discovered planets roughly the size of ours outside our solar system. Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f are the smallest exoplanets yet found, Discovery reports. Because they're so close to the star they orbit, they don't appear habitable, but the finding is "next major... More »

Dead Sea Dried Up 120K Years Ago

And it's in danger of happening again

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered that the Dead Sea pretty much vanished 120,000 years ago when the earth was as warm, or slightly warmer, than it is today, reports the BBC . It's in danger of doing the same today, this time helped along by populated areas taking the water that... More »

NASA Spots Habitable Earth-Like Planet

Kepler-22b averages 72 degrees and may have oceans

(Newser) - Finally, an Earth-like planet where the weather is nice enough for an occasional visit. Only, it's 600 light-years away. Today NASA announced the existence of Kepler-22b, the first-ever planet discovered in the "habitable zone" of a sun-like star—where temperatures are placid enough to allow for water, ScienceNOW... More »

Take a Trip Out of This World

18 sequences of time-lapse photography reveal our electrifying planet

(Newser) - Remember the last 'round-the-world trip we recommended? This one might be even better. It's 18 sequences of time-lapse photography (the first two over the US) taken 240 miles above the earth by the International Space Station and edited by designer Michael König . They make our home look... More »

Earth Has 7B People: Calculate Your Number

BBC provides a calculator

(Newser) - Planet Earth is going to get its 7 billionth person in coming days, and the BBC marks the occasion with a calculator that estimates what your number is in that mass of humanity. You plug in your birth date, and it computes the figure, along with how many people came... More »

You Can Orbit Earth, Thanks to Teacher

600 International Space Station shots take you from soup to nuts

(Newser) - What a world, what a world. Now anyone can (virtually) fly over the earth, thanks to an ingenious US science educator who has spliced together 600 publicly accessible photos snapped from the International Space Station. James Drake merged them in a minute-long video that leads the viewer over the world.... More »

Meteorites Brought Gold to Earth

Impacts 3.9B years ago responsible for most noble metals in crust today

(Newser) - You can thank meteorites for most of the gold in Earth's crust, reports the BBC . In fact, 22 billion billion tons of asteroid material that showered our planet 3.9 billion years ago were responsible for the gold, platinum, and other precious metals there (and, by extrapolation, for Glenn... More »

Huge Asteroid Will Zip By Earth in November

Astronomers excited about close-up look

(Newser) - A massive space rock will fly by Earth in November, and astronomers already are jazzed about getting a rare close-up view, reports Universe Today . The asteroid, named 2005 YU55, is about the size of an aircraft carrier and will come within about 200,000 miles of Earth on November 8,... More »

Giant Asteroid Now Stalking Earth Around Sun

But Asteroid 2010 SO16 has an unusual 'horseshoe' orbit

(Newser) - Earth has a new follower: Asteroid 2010 SO16, which has joined the Earth's path around the sun and could follow it for the next 120,000 to 1 million years, scientists say. But there's one odd thing about the asteroid, which just so happens to be the largest... More »

Planet Could Be 'Unrecognizable' in 40 Years

Population is getting richer, and competing for ever-scarcer resources

(Newser) - Our world could be "unrecognizable" by 2050 thanks to competition for scarce resources among our expanding, ever-more-affluent population, or so warned scientists at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science yesterday. To cope with a population that's expected to hit 9 billion by that... More »

Scientists Spar Over Asteroid Apocalypse in 2036

1-in-250,000 chance that Apophis will hit Earth

(Newser) - If that whole end-of-the-world thing doesn't work out next year, maybe the jig is up in 2036: Scientists are now saying that's the year an asteroid previously thought harmless (after having been deemed catastrophic before that) might just plow into the Earth. A few Russian scientists are warning that Apophis,... More »

5 New Earth-Like Planets Spotted

Hello, is anyone out there?

(Newser) - Scientists have spotted five new planets orbiting stars in our galaxy that are close to the size of Earth and are located in a "habitable zone," according to researchers. They're the right distance from their stars that make the existence of life-essential liquid water possible. The planets are... More »

Observatory to Unveil Search for Other Earths, Life

Kepler observatory to release early findings this week

(Newser) - There's a roving eye watching deep space for signs that the truth—or at least other Earth-like planets or even life—is out there, and we're going to get a glimpse this week. The $600 million Kepler observatory is tracking a small piece of sky filled with some 4.5... More »

Hawking: Ditch Earth, Head to Space to Survive

But watch out for the aliens

(Newser) - If mankind is to survive we must leave earth for colonies on other planets within the next 100 years, warns renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. "I see big dangers for mankind. Our only chance of long-term survival is not to remain inward looking on planet Earth but to spread out... More »

Northern Lights Head South—for 1 Night

Aurora borealis may be visible in northern US tonight

(Newser) - Thanks to a plasma eruption that roiled the surface of the sun, residents of the northern US and Canada may be able to enjoy a spectacular show tonight—the Northern Lights. "This eruption is directed right at us, and is expected to get here early in the day on... More »

Earth Not So Old

Planet was 100 million years in the making

(Newser) - Earth may have taken much longer to form after the birth of the solar system than was previously believed—making it a mere 4.467 billion years old, compared to its previously estimated age of 4.567 billion years. Geologists made the new calculations by comparing chemicals from the earth's... More »

Gravity's Rainbow Captured in HD

Satellite provides picture of planet pull

(Newser) - A mesmerizingly multi-hued map of the Earth's gravity has been created with the help of detailed measurements taken by Europe's Goce satellite. The data has been transformed into a "geoid," or map, highlighting the differences in the planet's pull, from its mountain ranges to ocean trenches, to create... More »

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