The dwarf planet Vesta is helping scientists better understand the earliest era in the formation of our solar system. Two recent papers involving scientists from the University of California, Davis, use data from meteorites ...
Planetary Sciences
Oct 6, 2021
1
158
Water is essential for life on Earth and other planets, and scientists have found ample evidence of water in Mars' early history. But Mars has no liquid water on its surface today. New research from Washington University ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 20, 2021
19
1990
As scientists prepare for crewed research missions to nearby planets and moons, they've identified a need for something beyond rovers and rockets.
Space Exploration
Aug 31, 2021
0
813
Among our solar system's many moons, Saturn's Titan stands out—it's the only moon with a substantial atmosphere and liquid on the surface. It even has a weather system like Earth's, though it rains methane instead of water. ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 10, 2021
3
1963
The remains of microscopic plankton blooms in near-shore ocean environments slowly sink to the seafloor, setting off processes that forever alter an important record of Earth's history, according to research from geoscientists, ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 21, 2021
1
326
One of Earth's greatest mysteries is how it transformed itself, ever so gradually, from a barren ball of rock into a launching pad for life.
Earth Sciences
Jul 15, 2021
13
204
In 2011, scientists confirmed a suspicion: There was a split in the local cosmos. Samples of the solar wind brought back to Earth by the Genesis mission definitively determined oxygen isotopes in the sun differ from those ...
Astronomy
Jul 5, 2021
0
2948
A new study disputes the prevailing hypothesis on why Mercury has a big core relative to its mantle (the layer between a planet's core and crust). For decades, scientists argued that hit-and-run collisions with other bodies ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 2, 2021
74
1329
Diatoms—tiny phytoplankton that are responsible for a fifth of all energy converted into matter by plants—may have become important much earlier in the development of Earth's ocean ecosystems and carbon cycle than previously ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 29, 2021
0
1035
The biggest shark attack in history did not involve humans.
Evolution
Jun 3, 2021
0
526
