Earth

NASA has announced the selection of five Medium Class Explorer concept mission proposals that could one day revolutionize our understanding of the space environment, and see pictures taken of the Sun's polar regions.

A new experiment placing bacteria on the outside of the International Space Station (ISS) has found that micro-organisms can survive in space for years, or even decades. The study lends weight to the idea that life could travel between planets.

Astronomers have identified an asteroid that made the closest pass to Earth ever recorded, and it was only spotted after it had passed. The object skimmed Earth’s atmosphere over the weekend, close enough to have its orbit changed by the gravity.

Earth is a famously watery planet, but where exactly it all came from is a mystery. Now researchers have suggested a new origin story, by showing that water and petroleum can form inside clouds of organic matter, at high temperatures and pressure.

Researchers have now found evidence that some of the world’s most impressive gems, such as the Hope Diamond and the Cullinan – which adorns the Crown Jewels – originated much deeper in the Earth’s mantle than previously thought.

Current levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are the highest they’ve been in a long time. According to a new study of fossil plant matter, CO2 concentrations haven’t been this high in at least 23 million years, and have never shot up this fast.

When did Earth's plate tectonics begin? A new study from Yale University claims to have found evidence that plate tectonics started about a billion years earlier than is currently thought, which places it very soon after the planet’s formation.

A new paper has revealed that Greenland and the Antarctic have lost a staggering amount of mass from their ice sheets over the last 16 years thanks to climate change, and that the melting has contributed to sea level rise.

New research from an international team of scientists is suggesting that instantly recognizable earthy smell after rain is released by bacteria trying to attract a particular arthropod as a way to spread its spores.

Antarctica wasn't always a cold lifeless landscape. An international team has recovered a 90-million-year old soil sample that paints the most detailed picture of ancient Antarctica ever found, revealing a swampy rainforest and balmy temperatures.

The Minor Planet Center has announced that Earth now has two moons. But don’t bother running outside to check – this second satellite is tiny and temporary. The newcomer, designated 2020 CD3, measures between 1.9 and 3.5 m (6.2 and 11.5 ft) wide.

Scientists have identified the oldest impact site ever to scar our planet’s surface. The body that formed the Yarrabubba crater in the Australian outback struck Earth 2.229 billion years ago, and may have helped end a global ice age.