NASA's Perseverance studies the wild winds of Jezero Crater

During its first couple hundred days in Jezero Crater, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover saw some of the most intense dust activity ever witnessed by a mission sent to the Red Planet's surface. Not only did the rover detect ...

Light reveals the origin of a grain of sand

A grain of sand buried for an extended period of time in earthworks or on the bottom of the ocean, accumulate a luminescence signal. Scientists use this signal to determine how long a particular grain of sand has been buried. ...

To shore up beaches, just add sand?

New research is shedding light on how mechanically placed sand on San Diego County beaches moves and its potential impacts. The study, published in the journal Coastal Engineering, could help planners develop beach nourishment ...

Chemistry can change the ingredients in planet formation

Planet and star formation starts with a lot of material collapsing, falling down onto itself because of gravity. In the middle of this, a protostar is being formed. This star will then start to get warm and eventually glow. ...

Every grain of sand is a metropolis for bacteria

Just imagine, you are sitting on a sunny beach, contentedly letting the warm sand trickle through your fingers. Millions of sand grains. What you probably can't imagine: at the same time, billions upon billions of bacteria ...

Where does the sand on Mars come from?

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) shows one possible place where sand grains are being produced on Mars today. Discovered in images from the Context Camera, this region exhibits dark material that is ...

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