Transverse instability of megaripples

Aeolian ripples, which form regular patterns on sand beaches and desert floors, indicate the fundamental instability of flat sand surfaces under the wind-induced transport of sand grains.

A 'melted' moon makes for bad future landing sites

The miniature radio frequency (min-RF) radar instrument aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is revealing some interesting things about how impact melts form around craters on the Moon. Impacts produce a crater, ...

Earth's oldest fossils boost hopes for life on Mars

(PhysOrg.com) -- Microfossils found in Australia show that more than 3.4 billion years ago, bacteria thrived on an Earth that had no oxygen, a finding that boosts hopes life has existed on Mars, a study published Sunday says.

Researchers discover ancient symbiosis between animals, bacteria

Marine shallow water sandy bottoms on the surface appear desert-like and empty, but in the interstitial space between the sand grains a diverse fauna flourishes. In addition to bacteria and protozoa numerous animal phyla ...

Even Canadian rocks are different

Canadians have always seen themselves as separate and distinct from their American neighbours to the south, and now they have geological proof.

Why the sandfish lizard wriggles as it does (w/ Video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The sandfish lizard (Scincus scincus) lives in the desert sands of North Africa and burrows through the sand by wriggling. Now scientists in the US have created a computer model that emulates the physics ...

These grains can be solid, liquid or dust

(PhysOrg.com) -- Take a walk along the beach and you might marvel at any number of things: the cresting waves, the occasional scuttling crab, the shells and odd shapes of driftwood that wash ashore.

Scientists Investigate Cause of 'Singing Dunes'

(PhysOrg.com) -- In more than 30 locations around the world, the phenomenon of singing sand dunes has intrigued explorers, tourists, and scientists. When an avalanche occurs or even when the sand is pushed by hand, it emits ...

Cassini Maps Global Pattern of Titan's Dunes

(PhysOrg.com) -- Titan's vast dune fields, which may act like weather vanes to determine general wind direction on Saturn's biggest moon, have been mapped by scientists who compiled four years of radar data collected by the ...

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