Earth

Earth-like planet discovery could happen very soon

Shelby Bateson — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:22:06 -0500

Astronomers have been on a quest to find another planet that can support life ever since space travel became possible, and even before. Last week, astronomers announced that they had found three “super Earths.”

Mars And Earth Have Similar Characteristics

harminka — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:41:53 -0500

Mars gets as far as 250 million miles away, but many parts of it closely resemble places on Earth, including its landscape, history of water, soil and even its weather, says a Texas A&M University researcher in the current issue of "Science" magazine.

How to deflect asteroids and save Earth

harminka — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:05:16 -0500

You may want to thank David French in advance. Because, in the event that a comet or asteroid comes hurtling toward Earth, he may be the guy responsible for saving the entire planet.

Asteroid Zips Pretty Darn Close to Earth

Michael Santo — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 21:53:38 -0600

It wasn't a "Deep Impact," or "Armageddon," but asteroid 2009 DD45 came pretty darn close to hitting Earth on Monday.

Explaining the scope of Earth's tropical air flows

harminka — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:55:41 -0600

The Hadley cells form the planetary overturning circulation in the tropical atmosphere.

Life on Earth got bigger in 2-million-fold leaps

harminka — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:59:23 -0600

Extremes are exciting. Does anyone really think dinosaurs would capture our imagination the way they do if they hadn't been so huge? You don't see natural history museums vying for fossil skeletons of prehistoric rodents.

Research team reports how, when life on Earth became so big

harminka — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:38:02 -0600

In 3.5 billion years, life on earth went from single microscopic cells to giant sequoias and blue whales. Scientists have now documented quantitatively that the increase in maximum size of organisms was not gradual, but happened in two distinct bursts "tied to the geological evolution of the planet," said Michal Kowalewski, professor of geosciences at Virginia Tech.

First record of key event that breaks continents apart

harminka — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:15:25 -0600

Researchers have captured for the first time a geological event considered key in shaping the Earth's landscape.

Modern day scourge helped ancient Earth escape deathly deep freeze

harminka — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:53:47 -0600

The planet's present day greenhouse scourge, carbon dioxide, may have played a vital role in helping ancient Earth to escape from complete glaciation, say scientists in a paper published online today.

Plate tectonics started over 4 billion years ago

harminka — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 07:04:13 -0600

A new picture of the early Earth is emerging, including the surprising finding that plate tectonics may have started more than 4 billion years ago — much earlier than scientists had believed, according to new research by UCLA geochemists reported Nov. 27 in the journal Nature.

McGill researchers find oldest rocks on Earth

harminka — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 07:36:25 -0500

McGill University researchers have discovered the oldest rocks on Earth – a discovery which sheds more light on our planet's mysterious beginnings. These rocks, known as "faux-amphibolites", may be remnants of a portion of Earth's primordial crust – the first crust that formed at the surface of our planet.

Global geological map for Internet

harminka — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:56:52 -0500

Have you ever wondered what our world would look like stripped bare of all plants, soils, water and man-made structures? Well wonder no longer; images of the Earth as never seen before have been unveiled in what is the world's biggest geological mapping project ever.