Earth Science

Earth Science

A vibrant solar flare erupts from the Sun's surface, showcasing sun activity in 2024 and emitting bright ultraviolet light in this detailed astrophotograph.
Northern lights in the American South, clusters of huge geomagnetic storms—the Sun is throwing a tantrum right on schedule.
A composite image shows the sun's path in the sky at different times of the year over a grassy landscape, with three arches of sun positions represented by dots, illustrating the earliest solstice.
On June 20, 2024, the summer solstice occurs at its earliest moment since 1796: when George Washington was President of the USA. Here's why.
A sailboat is silhouetted against a vibrant sunset over a calm sea, with other boats and their reflections visible in the background. The sky and water have a golden hue.
Ancient currents seemed to move in concert with a 2.4 million-year dance between the Red Planet and Earth.
A realistic illustration of earth in space, bathed in sunlight with a visible blue glow from the GaiaSignatures atmosphere.
"I hope we take a mindset where we are willing to look for weird life in weird places."
A striking view of a blue planet, similar to earth, seen from space with part of its surface illuminated by sunlight against a starry background.
Explore how the study of exoplanets is transforming our understanding of ocean formation.
Map of the united states indicating earthquake epicenters and areas where people reported feeling at least weak shaking, highlighting a magnitude 6.0 earthquake in central california on september 28, 2004, and a magnitude 5.8 earthquake in central virginia on august 23, 2011.
Across the subterranean United States, not all rocks were created equally.
Although human beings arrived on Earth just ~300,000 years ago, we've transformed the entire planet completely. Here's how we did it.
Pressed and dried ginkgo biloba leaf with visible veins and a tear.
Well-preserved ancient plants and other finds at the Clarkia fossil beds hint at what kind of evidence any Martian life may have left behind.
For billions of years on Earth, life was limited to simple unicellular, non-differentiated organisms. In a mere flash, that changed forever.
Earth viewed from space, partially obscured by a graphical overlay illustrating how oxygen once nearly killed life.
Known as the Great Oxygenation Event, Earth froze over as oxygen accumulated in our atmosphere, nearly driving all life extinct.
Spectators observing a dramatic eruption from active volcanoes at twilight.
Volcanologists warn that magma-filled vents evolve over time, leading to an underestimation of the number that might erupt — especially those capable of the biggest explosions
A telescope dedicated to astronomy pointing towards a starry sky at night, with beams of light overcoming the atmosphere to create a visual path.
Lasers, mirrors, and computational advances can all work together to push ground-based astronomy past the limits of our atmosphere.
black hole hit Earth
No matter how you define the end, including the demise of humanity, all life, or even the planet itself, our ultimate destruction awaits.
An image of blue glow in the dark, signifying life.
In a recent paper, biologists outlined a three-part hypothesis for how all life as we know it began.
A small piece of rock from Germany on a white surface.
Meanwhile meteorite hunters rushed to Berlin to find this most rare space rock.
An image of a fireball emerging from a dark background.
Until the Apollo missions, we had no idea how the moon got here, just a series of educated guesses. They rewrote the story of the moon’s origins.
The discovery suggests that the "Boring Billion" period of evolution on Earth wasn't so boring after all.
A colorful village sits on the shore of a body of water.
Scientists are working to map out the risks of the permafrost thaw, which could expose millions of people to the invisible cancer-causing gas.
A graph showing the death rate on everest.
The world’s highest mountain is also the world’s highest cemetery, with some bodies serving as creepy landmarks for today’s climbers.
An image of the surface of Mars, showcasing its captivating and unique geological formations resembling a grand canyon.
Valles Marineris is the Solar System's grandest canyon, many times longer, wider, and deeper than the Grand Canyon. What scarred Mars so?
A forest overlaid with an image of a city
The answer is set to change in the year 2113, a recent estimate suggests.
An artist's rendering of two **changed** planets in space.
Our cosmic home, planet Earth, has been through a lot over the past 4.5 billion years. Here are some of its most spectacular changes
A yellow dump truck on a sand hill.
Sometimes called “the new gold,” sand is the second most exploited natural resource in the world after fresh water.
A map showing the location of Israel and Egypt, with a focus on its significance in biblical history.
When battles raged in ancient cities, their rocks blazed so brightly that they could be reoriented according to Earth's magnetic field.
A black and white photo of a snow covered mountain.
Along with obsidian that dazzled scientists in Canada.
An artist's impression of a group of planets in space.
Astronomers have discovered more than 5,000 confirmed exoplanets — very few of which resemble Earth.
An aerial view of a river.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, matter can escape the center of the Earth.