Earth

Science stands still for no one, and with a new year comes a new calendar of exciting events in spaceflight and exploration. New Atlas rounds up some of the most important milestones to look forward to in 2020.

Researchers have discovered the oldest material on Earth – and it’s not from Earth. Tiny grains from a meteorite that fell in Australia were found to be between 5 and 7 billion years old, meaning they predate our planet, the Sun and the solar system.

New evidence suggests that snow may be falling within the broiling hot core of planet Earth. Of course, this isn’t your everyday surface snow – these flakes would be made of iron, settling onto the solid inner core through the more fluid outer core.

Despite raising the alert level weeks prior to the devastating events of Monday, the violent eruption on White Island was not one authorities were able to predict with any precision, owing to the type of delicate, steam-driven processes that led to its explosion.

A new report declaring a climate emergency has been signed by thousands of scientists. But it remains hopeful, outlining six steps we can take to mitigate the worst effects of climate change – provided we act sooner rather than later.

About 65 million years ago, a huge asteroid slammed into the Earth and wiped out three quarters of all life on Earth, including the dinosaurs. Now, Yale researchers have found evidence that oceans became too acidic for marine animals to take.

Scientists have found some of the earliest direct evidence of life, in the form of organic remains in 3.5-billion-year-old stromatolites in Australia.

A new study argues that the death of a huge asteroid caused an ice age that dramatically altered the evolution of life on Earth.

Just how common are potentially habitable Earth-like planets? Researchers on a new study claim to have come up with the most accurate estimate yet – and they’re more common than you might think.

Compasses point north – that’s a pretty constant fact of life. But it hasn’t always been the case, as the north and south poles flip on a semi-regularly basis. Exactly how long this process takes has been up for debate, and now a new study suggests it happens far more slowly than previously thought.

NASA’s TESS mission has been very busy lately, making many exoplanet discoveries. Now, the productive little satellite has made another important discovery – the closest super-Earth that’s potentially habitable.

A new study has used simulations to show that even Earth-like planets completely encased in ice could still have areas warm enough for life, muddying up the already-murky definition of habitable worlds.