A team of scientists has identified an additional force that likely contributed to a mass extinction event 250 million years ago. Its analysis of minerals in southern China indicate that volcano eruptions produced a "volcanic ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 17, 2021
3
562
Stand on the ocean's shore and take a big whiff of the salt spray and you'll smell the unmistakably pungent scent of the sea. That ripe, almost rotting smell? That's sulfur.
Earth Sciences
Oct 11, 2021
2
540
Traces of the gas phosphine point to volcanic activity on Venus, according to new research from Cornell University.
Planetary Sciences
Jul 12, 2021
12
4703
Nitrogen, an element that is essential for all living cells, makes up about 78 percent of Earth's atmosphere. However, most organisms cannot make use of this nitrogen until it is converted into ammonia. Until humans invented ...
Materials Science
May 27, 2021
0
136
In September, a team led by astronomers in the United Kingdom announced that they had detected the chemical phosphine in the thick clouds of Venus. The team's reported detection, based on observations by two Earth-based radio ...
Astronomy
Jan 27, 2021
8
360
Historically, coal-fired power plants were the largest source of reactive sulfur, a component of acid rain, to the biosphere. A new study recently publishing Aug. 10 in the journal Nature Geoscience shows that fertilizer ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 10, 2020
0
658
Chemical reactions deep below ground affect water quality, but methods for "seeing" them are time-consuming, expensive and limited in scope. A Penn State-led research team found that seismic waves can help to identify these ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 27, 2020
0
198
Organic compounds called thiophenes are found on Earth in coal, crude oil and oddly enough, in white truffles, the mushroom beloved by epicureans and wild pigs.
Space Exploration
Mar 5, 2020
36
5483
More than half of all air-quality-related early deaths in the United States are a result of emissions originating outside of the state in which those deaths occur, MIT researchers report in the journal Nature.
Environment
Feb 12, 2020
1
488
Air-quality alerts often include the levels of particulate matter, small clumps of molecules in the lower atmosphere that can range in size from microscopic to visible. These particles can contribute to haze, clouds, and ...
Environment
Nov 25, 2019
0
198
