SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - One of the main arguments for studying other planets is for what they can tell us about Earth. Did or do they harbor life? What clues can they offer about our planet’s past? If scientists want to investigate an Earth-like planet, one convenient opportunity is Venus. The similar size and planetary composition...
KESQ - In the wake of Friday's magnitude 4.2 earthquake at the convergence of the San Andreas and San Jacinto fault zones, there are concerns that could have been a foreshock for a much bigger quake. Some geophysicists are warning about the possibility of a major seismic event along the San Andreas Fault, which runs...
THE ATLANTIC - Earth’s fate rests on a coin flip. In 5 billion years, our sun will balloon into a red giant star. Whether Earth survives is an “open question,” Melinda Soares-Furtado, an astrophysicist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, says. Sure, Earth could be swallowed by the sun and destroyed. But in some...
QUANTA MAGAZINE - Earth’s fate rests on a coin flip. In 5 billion years, our sun will balloon into a red giant star. Whether Earth survives is an “open question,” said Melinda Soares-Furtado, an astrophysicist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Sure, Earth could be swallowed by the sun and destroyed. But in some scenarios...
EOS - The folks next door can have a big impact on the livability of a neighborhood. If they’re loud, pushy, and obnoxious, they can force you out of even the most comfortable of homes. That truism applies to planets as well as people. The wrong kind of neighbor can kick an Earth-like planet out...
NATURE - Budget pressures at NASA, specifically arising from the increasing costs of several planetary science mission programmes, have rendered the Venus orbiter VERITAS as collateral damage. Currently on subsistence funding, mission scientists worry about the impact of ongoing delays on Venus exploration. Perpetually shrouded by dense, toxic clouds and sizzling with temperatures hot enough...
INDY100 - A 'white gold' mine containing $540 billion in treasures has been discovered at the bottom of a giant lake in Southern California. The Salton Sea, which is the largest lake in the US state was being studied by scientists as part of research funded by the Department of Energy. The study aimed to...
POPULAR SCIENCE - Geologists have discovered 10 new species of trilobite in a relatively unstudied area of Thailand. These extinct sea creatures were hidden for 490 million years and are helping scientists create a new map of the animal life during the late Cambrian period. They are described in a monograph that was published in...
NEWSWEEK - Researchers have uncovered the fossils of numerous extinct sea creatures that lived hundreds of millions of years ago—and they could help solve an ancient geographical puzzle, according to a recently published study. The fossils represent various types of a strange class of prehistoric marine animals known as trilobites. A team of scientists collected...
IFL SCIENCE - The humble trilobite may be long-extinct, but even as fossils, there’s much they can teach us about the history of our planet. In fact, ancient arthropods – including 10 newly discovered species – that lived nearly half a billion years ago could provide the missing pieces to the puzzle of where Thailand...