CubeSat Captures First Global Picture of Small Frozen Particles Inside Clouds
Looking at Earth from the International Space Station, astronauts see big, white clouds spreading across the planet. They cannot distinguish a gray rain cloud from…
Earth Science
Scientists Discover New Magnetic Process in Turbulent Space
Though close to home, the space immediately around Earth is full of hidden secrets and invisible processes. In a new discovery reported in the journal…
How Energy Dissipates Outside Earth’s Magnetic Field
Earth’s magnetic field provides an invisible but crucial barrier that protects Earth from the solar wind–a stream of charged particles launched from the sun’s outer…
GEDI Laser Instrument Moves Toward Launch to Space Station
A first-of-its-kind laser instrument designed to map the world’s forests in 3-D is moving toward an earlier launch to the International Space Station than previously…
MIT Study Shows Health Benefits Will Offset Cost of China’s Climate Policy
A new MIT study reports that, if China follows through with its international pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, every one of its provinces will…
DopplerScatt Doubles Scientists’ View of Ocean-Air Interactions
NASA scientists are hard at work trying to unlock mysteries of our planet’s ocean surface currents and winds using a new Earth science radar instrument…
23 Stunning Specimens of California Gold on Display
The Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History is having a gold rush — one in which prospectors can gaze at glittering specimens of radiating golden…
International Space Station Investigates Thunderstorms in Earth’s Upper Atmosphere
Thunderstorms in Earth’s upper atmosphere remain something of a mystery. Scientists cannot reach them directly with instruments; they are too high for balloons and too…
Scientists Believe Tiny Sea Creatures Hold Secrets to Earth’s Climate
Each new season brings change. Seasonal change on land is something that we’re familiar with and adjust to regularly. But what happens to billions of…
Lunar Rocks Reveal a Different Story About Earth’s Early Days
Up until about ten years ago, scientists thought they had a pretty good picture of how the moon and Earth came to co-exist. Then more…
Scientists Identify Key Ingredients When First Organisms Appeared on Earth
Large concentrations of sulfites and bisulfites in shallow lakes may have set the stage for Earth’s first biological molecules. Around 4 billion years ago, Earth…
Scientists Discover Bits of the Solar System in an Antarctic Glacier
On rare calm days, the most striking thing you notice at an altitude of more than 8,000 feet on an Antarctic glacier is the silence….
New Research Details the Net Retreat of Antarctic Glacier Grounding Lines
Antarctica’s great ice sheet is losing ground as it is eroded by warm ocean water circulating beneath its floating edge, a new study has found….
“Finding Life in Outer Space” – Travel Across Time and Space Exploring Why Life Exists
On Sunday, March 25, a new program called “Finding Life in Outer Space” will debut on the Smithsonian Channel. The scientific lead for this program…
Scientists May Have to Reinterpret Seismic Maps of the Earth’s Interior
When an earthquake strikes, nearby seismometers pick up its vibrations in the form of seismic waves. In addition to revealing the epicenter of a quake,…
Astronomers Solve the Mystery of Purple Lights in the Upper Atmosphere
Notanee Bourassa knew that what he was seeing in the night sky was not normal. Bourassa, an IT technician in Regina, Canada, trekked outside of…
Cretaceous Volcanic Ash Linked with Shale Gas and Oil Fields
Nutrient-rich ash from an enormous flare-up of volcanic eruptions toward the end of the dinosaurs’ reign kicked off a chain of events that led to…
Study Shows Modern Humans Thrived Through Ancient Toba Supervolcano Eruption
Imagine a year in Africa that summer never arrives. The sky takes on a gray hue during the day and glows red at night. Flowers…