Seismic

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.

The mission may be defunct, but NASA’s InSight Mars lander is still discovering new things about the Red Planet. Scientists poring over data have now made the first direct observations of another planet’s core, and it’s not quite what we thought.

NASA’s InSight has detected the strongest and longest quake on Mars so far. The event was five times more powerful than any previous marsquake, unleashing as much energy as all others combined. With the lander failing the record is unlikely to topple.

Mars is usually considered a geologically dead planet, but a new study challenges that idea. Multiple lines of evidence reveals a giant plume of magma is forcing its way up through the mantle and producing seismic activity in one region of the surface.

NASA’s InSight Mars lander has made two major new discoveries. By sensing seismic activity from the Red Planet, the craft has now detected a large meteorite impact, and found evidence of magma pools and volcanic activity still occurring today.

Predicting the likelihood and severity of earthquakes is important, but it’s hard to account for all factors. Researchers in New Zealand have now uncovered an overlooked factor that could affect the impact of the next big quake – tiny marine fossils.

NASA's InSight Mars lander is trading less life for more science after the space agency decided to let the spacecraft's remaining science instrument run until the lander's solar power system fails completely sometime in August or September.

NASA’s InSight lander has recorded the two strongest quakes detected so far on Mars, with both measuring over magnitude 4. These seismic events rolled in from the far side of the Red Planet, and one also clocked the record for longest marsquake.

NASA's InSight has provided … well, insight, into the inner workings of the Red Planet. By monitoring marsquakes over the past two years, the instrument measured the thickness and composition of Mars’ crust, mantle and core, revealing some surprises.

Scientists at the University of Utah have been keeping a close eye on these famous geysers of Yellowstone National Park, and have now managed to image the plumbing system of the tallest one in the world to a depth of 450 feet.

Oregon State University researchers have found that fin whale songs interact with the ocean floor, being reflected and refracted by the sediments and bedrock, and can be used to measure the thickness of these layers as well as providing other data.

Researchers have delved into what the coronavirus lockdowns have meant for human-caused Earth vibrations, leading to the discovery of what say is the "longest and most pronounced quiet period of seismic noise in recorded history.