New Atlas

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 ...

Environment Audio available

New study finds oceans are warming up much faster than previously thought

Michael Irving November 5, 2018

The oceans are heating up at an alarming rate, and it turns out that the problem may be worse than we initially thought. A new study has used a more accurate technique to measure the rate of ocean warming, and found that it could be 60 percent higher than the current worst-case scenario suggests.

A new study has found that the rate of ocean warming as a result of climate ...

Space

Dusty pseudo-satellites spotted orbiting Earth

Michael Irving October 28, 2018

Hungarian astronomers have spotted two new pseudo-satellites – in the form of clouds of dust – caught in the gravitational tug-of-war between the Earth and the Moon.

An artist's rendition of the dusty pseudo-moon spotted in orbit around Earth

Science Audio available

Earthquake vibrations suggest Earth's inner core is solid but squishy

Michael Irving October 21, 2018

It’s long been thought that the Earth's inner core is a solid ball of iron, but direct evidence is hard to come by. Now, researchers from the Australian National University (ANU) have detected a type of seismic wave passing through the core that only propagates through solid objects.

By measuring seismic waves passing through the center of the Earth, researchers have concluded that the ...

Environment

NASA study uncovers three factors responsible for Earth's irregular spin

Michael Irving September 20, 2018

The Earth’s spin naturally drifts on its axis over time, and that’s generally chalked up to the way mass is distributed and redistributed across the planet’s surface. Now, NASA scientists studying data gathered across the entire 20th century have identified three broad processes that play a part.

A NASA study has found three main factors contributed to a shift in the Earth's axis ...

Science

"Molecular clock" study traces evolution back to ancestor of all life on Earth

Michael Irving August 21, 2018

The further back in time you go, the patchier our understanding of life on Earth gets. Now, British scientists have used a different method known as a molecular clock to plot out a rough timeline of all life on Earth, tracing the first organisms back to about 4.5 billion years ago.

Fossils such as stromatolites (pictured) can't tell us the complete story of life on Earth, so ...

Environment

Time for the Meghalayan: A new geological age has officially been declared

Michael Irving July 19, 2018

The International Chronostratigraphic Chart has officially been revised. That means our current point in Earth’s geological timeline has been updated so that we’re now living in the Meghalayan age, which began 4,200 years ago with a two-century drought that destroyed several civilizations.

Welcome to the Meghalayan age, a newly-confirmed geological age that began 4,200 years ago

Science

Quadrillion tons of diamond discovered deep within the Earth

Michael Irving July 16, 2018

The next blow to Big Diamond might have just arrived. Using sound waves, geologists have discovered a gigantic stash of the so-called precious stones deep in the Earth's interior, possibly to the tune of a quadrillion tons.

new study suggests there may be 1,000 times more diamonds in the Earth's interior than previously ...