Tags: Earth

Striking It Rich in Supernovae Dust at the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy

SPACE It’s a tough job sifting through the data and the haze of the center of the Milky Way galaxy, but some astronomers have to do it. The time-consuming job often means having to peer into the center with aid of multiple telescopes, all giving you a different perspective at a different wavelength. It can be job of countless hours, with little to no reward, but when researchers find even cosmic dust, their studies can strike it rich.

Solar Eclipse Guide March 2015—How To Watch it Tonight From Anywhere on Earth

A rather rare occurrence, happening once every year or two, a total eclipse of the sun is a pretty big deal in the sky-watching community. Not only is it special because the sun’s disk entirely covered by the moon, but also because it’s a cosmic occurrence right in our back yard. But for those not living in the Arctic or on the Faroe Islands archipelago between Norway and Iceland, tonights events may be a little hard to see.

Fluctuations in the Orbit of the Earth Can Impact Global Warming

A new study from Denmark has found that fluctuations in the orbit of the Earth has been causing periods of dramatic, short-term global warming for at least 1.4 billion years. These fluctuations, known as Milankovitch cycles, are even responsible for some long-term global warming of today’s climate.

VIDEO—NASA’s Satellite Space Fleet Path Patterns Revealed

While it may be a groggy Monday morning, after most of the world lost an hour this weekend in the readjustment of our clocks, a new animation from NASA reveals that you may be luckier than their satellites who are on the clock 24 hours a day. While you may know that many of the satellites like Aqua, Aura and CloudSat pass overhead everyday at 1:30pm, no matter where you are, you may not have given their movements much thought or ever fully realized exactly how many satellites are working for the space agency. But in celebration of NASA’s newest achievement in having their Dawn satellite reach the dwarf planet Ceres, their giving us a new view of what orbiters do here at home.

How the Oceans Could Be Our Salvation from Global Warming

A new study published in the journal Science brings us closer to understanding the role our oceans play and how they have influenced our climate. Scientists hope this knowledge will help them learn how the oceans can help us cool down the planet and neutralize global warming.

Methane Based Life Could Exist on Saturn’s Moon, Titan

In a new study published this week by researchers from Cornell University, the team of researchers has modeled a new methane-based life form that can metabolize and reproduce, similar to the oxygen-based life forms here on Earth. And more than that, the researchers say that these life forms could flourish in the harsh, cold environment of Saturn's moon, Titan. Titan's surface is filled with seas of liquid methane that researchers believe could harbor these methane-based cells.

Thanks To Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter NASA Reveals What Lies on the Dark Side of the Moon

Ever wonder what lies on the dark side of the moon? It’s a perspective unlike any that humans have ever seen, and it has been a question that researchers and civilizations have asked for thousands of years. But now, thanks to data collected by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA is showing us exactly what lies on the dark side of the moon, and the view of our solar system whirling around it.

When Red Dust Settles, Only ‘Black Beauty’ Remains

While many may be familiar with Mars’ dusty red surface from the glow it gives, or even the dust-covered mountains traversed by Mars rovers in the past, a new study of a meteorite found in the Moroccan desert has researchers believing that a far different image of the planet lies just below the thin red dust.

Doomsday Clock Moves Even Closer to Midnight

The world could be closer to coming to an end, if you believe the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists who moved the clock two minutes closer to midnight. The clock now sits at three minutes to midnight making this the closest it has been to midnight since 1984 during the height of the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

New Island Created By Volcano in Tonga

The Earth continues to change its landscape right before our eyes. A volcanic eruption in Tonga has created a new island, but one scientist says it could soon vanish just as quickly as it formed.

2014 Is Officially the Warmest Year on Record

Scientists from both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA calculated that in 2014 the world experienced its hottest year in the 135 total years of record keeping. The Japanese weather agency and an independent group from the University of California Berkeley also measured 2014 and determined it was the hottest year on record.

Polar Bears May Be Solving Their Own Problems—But Not For Long

While researchers and diplomats all over the world are attempting to deal with the issues of climate change, the United Nations in particular who are trying to unite all nations in a collective effort, it's the animal species at the Earth's poles that are facing this change on the front line. And though the valiant efforts made in recent summits have yet to amount to much change, it appears that animals in the Arctic are finding a solution of their own- well, a temporary one at least.

How Many Times Did the International Space Station Crew Ring in the New Year? Can You Guess?

While their families and colleagues must undoubtedly think about them 24 hours a day, it seems that most residents of Earth never find themselves pondering what life must be like for the elite six astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) just outside our atmosphere. Orbiting the Earth in a giant space-bound laboratory, life can get pretty interesting. And something even as innocuous as the ball drop of a new year can turn into something entirely note-worthy.

SpaceX’s Reusable Rocket Could Turn the Tide of Space Missions in 2015

Ever wonder why they call space the “final frontier”? Well it isn’t because it’s the last place for us to explore or expand. As it so happens, space is often thought of as the final frontier because most of what leaves our Earth in search of exploration never comes back. In fact, it’s the reason why Mars One’s newest plans for colonization on Mars is only planning one-way trips. But what if we could reuse rockets and reclaim the several-million-dollar investments that our space agencies, and our tax dollars, invest each and every year? Perhaps we’d be able to go in search of far more things. And that’s what private-sector rocket company SpaceX hopes to achieve.

Comet 67P/Churyumov Gerasimenko Reveals Origins of Water May Not be From Comets

After an arduous ten year journey throughout some tough terrain of space, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta mission set records this past summer for being the first spacecraft to orbit a comet in mid-flight. And while many expected the mission to reveal a bit more insight into the behavior and composition of comets from the outer edges of our solar system, no one expected to learn exactly how Earth came to be so unique and the perfect host to life, only three planets away from our sun.

Saturn’s Titan Was Likely Sculpted by Rogue Winds Gusting on the Moon

While researchers have long known of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, and its sandy surface, new research presented this week in two separate studies published in the journal Nature reveals that the 300 foot sand dunes on the moon’s surface may have originated from very different circumstances than those on Earth. Titan, which is much like the Earth, is one of the most intriguing moons our solar system has come to offer. But while it is the only other celestial body that has standing reservoirs of liquid on its surface and fields of dunes like those of the Sahara desert, astronomers are now finding that the events leading to Titan’s surface are far unlike what happened here on Earth.

Earth’s Warm Streak Could Peak in a Decade, If Policymakers Don’t Change

Speed up the models and cut down on your carbon footprints, because a bit of change today could spell better weather and a better Earth only a decade away. While climatologists and researchers across all of science have in recent years discussed the long-term goals of climate change and the effects of carbon emissions, a new study published today, Dec. 2, in the journal Environmental Research Letters reveals that reductions in carbon emissions today will help shape the planet’s atmosphere in as little as 10 years, versus the 30 to 50 year models used by researchers and policymakers until now.

Recommended Stories

Real Time Analytics