Earth

Astronomers have discovered the cosmic equivalent of a parent crashing a teenagers’ party to make sure they have enough water. An aging star has been detected passing through a young star-forming region, delivering elements crucial for life to form.

The unique perspective just a few astronauts have ever seen of Earth from outer space, and the way in which it impacts them, is known as the Overview Effect. Now, specially built theaters and a new film will bring the same experience to the masses.

If you’ve ever felt like you need more hours in the day, well how does 60 sound? A new study suggests we’d have 60-hour days by now if a stalemate between the Sun and Moon hadn’t interfered with Earth’s rotation for over a billion years.

The Earth’s inner core is incredibly tricky to study, since it’s buried beneath thousands of miles of rock. New seismic studies suggest that it’s not just a solid ball of iron, as has been assumed, but might have pockets of liquid iron throughout.

ESA's Juice Jupiter mission is back on track after Mission Control in Darmstadt, Germany managed to shake loose and deploy the stuck ice-penetrating Radar for Icy Moons Exploration (RIME) antenna that was stuck due to a tiny pin.

As its Aeolus wind monitoring mission comes to an end, ESA is testing new procedures for deorbiting the decommissioned 1360-kg (3,000 lb) spacecraft to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, advancing international space safety standards.

Researchers have examined tiny time capsules found in the oldest-known crystals in an attempt to settle a question that divides scientists: when did Earth’s tectonic plates begin to move and was it at the time life began on Earth?

Astronomers are tracking nearby asteroids, but there’s one glaring blindspot in the sky – the Sun. Thankfully, ESA plans to plug the gap soon with NEOMIR, a mission that will give us advance warning of any Earth-bound rocks from that direction.

The inner Earth is a mysterious place, and now scientists may have uncovered a strange new secret. According to a new study, the Earth’s inner core may have recently stopped rotating, relative to the surface, as part of a decades-long cycle.

Life on Earth has persisted for billions of years through many extreme climate events. MIT scientists have analyzed 66 million years of climate data and found a stabilizing mechanism for global temperatures that plays out on large timescales.

Astronomers have discovered three new near-Earth asteroids, including the closest known to the Sun. Another is one of the largest known asteroids considered potentially hazardous to Earth, measuring almost a mile wide with an orbit close to our own.

The Earth’s magnetic field isn't something we can usually see, feel or hear. That last point has now changed though, as scientists and musicians have worked together to convert magnetic field data into sound – with spooky results.