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Earth is a geological weirdo in our solar system. This is why.
Published October 12, 202310 min readScientists recently discovered something surprising on the far side of the moon: a hot spot in a collapsed, long-extinct volcanic caldera. It was being warmed by radioactive elements in the granite that formed in the solidified magma chamber below.The surprise wasn’t the granite’s radioactivity—ordinary countertop granite on Earth is a
October 12, 2023
The loss of dark skies is so painful, astronomers coined a new term for it
News Skywatching Light pollution is worsening globally, erasing many stars from the night sky. (Image credit: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA, P. Marenfeld) Humanity is slowly losing access to the night sky, and astronomers have invented a new term to describe the pain associated with this loss: "noctalgia," meaning "night grief."Along with our propensity for polluting air and water
September 18, 2023
Biologists Observe Highly Unusual Reproductive Behavior in Endangered Freshwater Mussels
In spring, female thick-shelled river mussels (Unio crassus) were seen moving to the water’s edge and anchoring into the riverbed, with their back ends raised above the waterline; then they squirted out regular water jets, which landed in the water up to a meter away; squirting cycles lasted 3-6 hours. The jets disturb the river
March 14, 2023
Nature’s blueprint: Clams and the future of fiber optics
Clams called Heart cockles, found in the warm, equatorial waters of the Indo-Pacific, have a mutually beneficial relationship with microscopic algae living in their tissues. The algae need light to thrive, and in return, the clams benefit from the sugars produced by the algae through photosynthesis. To support this bond, heart cockles have evolved natural
December 2, 2024
Christopher Jackson interview: How geologists can fight climate change
Geologists have a reputation for facilitating the extraction of minerals and fossil fuels, says Christopher Jackson. Now we must use our expertise to find sources of renewable energy Environment 2 February 2022 By Abigail Beall Jennie EdwardsFROM the breathtaking Atlas mountains in Morocco to the expansive deserts of the US, Christopher Jackson’s work has taken…
February 2, 2022
Bringing space inside the lab: Researchers replicate the climates of exoplanets to help find extraterrestrial life
The high-temperature and high-pressure conditions found on exoplanets can be recreated inside this instrument. Credit: University of Colorado at Boulder Scientists do not need to travel light-years away to chart the atmospheres of exoplanets, thanks to research happening in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).…
December 23, 2021