German Research Center for Geoscience

Drones

Drone used to safely study an active volcano

Active volcanic craters are something that people generally don't want to get very close to – even if they're dedicated volcanologists. With that in mind, German scientists recently had success using a drone to do the job.

Researchers have looked to the past to determine whether the weakening magnetic field is indicative of an imminent pole reversal

Environment

Earth's magnetic field is weakening – but it's not about to reverse

The Earth’s magnetic field is currently weakening, and there’s been a lot of talk in recent years that a reversal might be imminent. Now a new study has looked at the history of these events and found that a reversal probably isn’t about to happen.

The lights of Earth as they appeared from space, in 2012

Environment

Our nights have been getting 2 percent lighter every year

If you're thinking that it seems a little less dark at night … well, you might not be imagining things. According to a new study led by Dr. Christopher Kyba of the German Research Center for Geoscience, Earth's artificially lit outdoor areas grew by 2.2 percent per year from 2012 to 2016.