New Atlas

Science Audio available

Massive mountain range found in the Earth's mantle

Michael Irving February 14, 2019

According to a new study, Earth's surface is smooth compared to the landscapes found deep within the planet. Using data from one of the biggest earthquakes on record, geophysicists have now found massive mountain ranges hundreds of kilometers beneath our feet.

A diagram of the Earth's layers, including the transition zone – the bottom boundary of which ...

Environment

2018 continued worrying warming trend according to multiple climate reports

Michael Irving February 6, 2019

Continuing a long-term upward trend, several climate reports released today have concluded that 2018 was among the hottest years on record. In independent analyses, NASA, NOAA and WMO have all found the past year to be dotted with broken records.

This map shows the differences in average temperatures, with yellow, orange and red indicating the largest ...

Environment Audio available

Ancient glacial landscape unexpectedly found in African desert

Michael Irving February 5, 2019

Today, the desert country of Namibia isn’t somewhere you’d expect to find much ice, but 300 million years ago it was a very different landscape. A team of geologists has now discovered a land formation that’s associated with fast-moving glaciers, and isn’t usually found in the desert.

Geologists have discovered unexpected land formations in Namibia, which indicate the area was once covered in ...

Science Audio available

Fossil fats reveal how complex life kicked off after Snowball Earth phase

Michael Irving January 31, 2019

About 700 million years ago, basically the entire planet iced over in a period often called “Snowball Earth.” Now researchers have found fossil fats that help fill in the story of how life bounced back after this global cataclysm, and how we humans might owe our very existence to them.

Fossil fats have shown how complex life arose after Earth's "snowball" phase

Environment Audio available

Ancient crystals suggest Earth's core is 4 billion years younger than the planet

Michael Irving January 29, 2019

The Earth is almost 4.5 billion years old, but it’s young at heart – literally. Researchers from the University of Rochester have now dated the solid inner core of the planet to just 565 million years, making it a relative toddler compared to the rest of Earth.

A new study dates the Earth's inner core to just 565 million years old – much ...

Environment Audio available

Huge ancient ice wall across the Bering Strait may have triggered Ice Age

Michael Irving December 20, 2018

Most climate change events can be linked to specific causes, but the cause of the last major shift, which occurred about a million years ago, has remained a mystery. By taking samples from the ocean floor of the Bering Sea, a new study may have uncovered the mechanism behind this outlier event.

A new study suggests the last ice age was caused by an ice wall across the ...

Space

The year's most spectacular space photos

Michael Irving December 19, 2018

The Sun is setting on 2018, and with so many eyes on (and in) the skies it’s been a stellar year for space photography. From mesmerizing nebulae to historic firsts to stunning views of Earth and other planets, New Atlas rounds up some of the best space photos of the year.

The Lagoon Nebula, a stellar nursery about 4,000 light-years from Earth, captured in visible light by ...

Space Audio available

Hubble spots "hot Neptune" exoplanet that's evaporating at a record rate

Michael Irving December 13, 2018

A type of world dubbed a "hot Neptune" has been conspicuously few and far between in terms of exoplanet discoveries, but a new observation may explain why. Hubble has now spotted a hot Neptune named GJ 3470b that’s vanishing at a record rate.

An illustration of GJ 3470b, shrouded in a cloud of gas as its atmosphere is stripped ...

Environment Audio available

10-year study documents massive, mysterious ecosystem deep beneath our feet

Michael Irving December 10, 2018

A study has taken a census of life in the “deep biosphere” beneath the Earth's surface. Among the finds are bizarre creatures that can survive at record depths, pressures and temperatures, and even “zombie” bacteria that may live (in a loose sense of the word) for millions of years at a time.

Researchers have cataloged the extensive biosphere of life deep beneath the surface of the Earth

Environment Audio available

Earth is "drinking" more seawater through the Mariana Trench than previously thought

Michael Irving November 14, 2018

A new study suggests that the mantle is home to much more water than was previously believed. Seismic activity around the Mariana Trench have revealed that subducting tectonic plates are dragging more water deeper into the Earth, which could change our understanding of the global water cycle.

Seismic activity at the Mariana plate is dragging far more water into the Earth's mantle than ...