Updated: 2024-11-27 19:02:43
New research has revealed that the Ninetyeast Ridge -- the Earth's longest straight underwater mountain chain -- formed through a different process than previously believed. Stretching 5000 km along the Indian Ocean's 90-degree east longitude and nearly matching the length of North America's Rocky Mountains, the ridge offers crucial new insights into the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates.
Updated: 2024-11-22 22:03:00
In 2024, The Planetary Society championed the importance of space science and exploration through our advocacy and policy work, education and outreach, science and technology, and global collaboration. Review the key moments and achievements that defined our year with the support of our members in our annual impact report.
Updated: 2024-11-19 18:24:21
Researchers study how Champatis roll and bounce down inclines. The authors released a heap of the seeds down an inclined plane while a camera recorded their descent to analyze their speed and the dynamics of their movement. The grains start to spread out slowly, then decrease quickly as they move downstream, akin to rock avalanches. This research may provide valuable insights into geological flows, including hyperspreading of rock avalanches, and could contribute to resolving challenges in this area.
Updated: 2024-11-18 05:59:34
A new study has highlighted just how significantly the level of the Mediterranean Sea dropped during the Messinian Salinity Crisis -- a major geological event that transformed the Mediterranean into a gigantic salt basin between 5.97 and 5.33 million years ago.
Updated: 2024-11-18 05:53:17
Through the intricate study of lava tubes -- caves formed following volcanic eruptions when lava cools down -- an international team of researchers has uncovered clues about Earth's ancient environments that could be significant in the search for life on Mars.
Updated: 2024-11-14 05:57:38
By probing chemical processes observed in the Earth's hot mantle, scientists have started developing a library of basalt-based spectral signatures that not only will help reveal the composition of planets outside of our solar system but could demonstrate evidence of water on those exoplanets.
Updated: 2024-11-13 00:08:54
Migratory birds are known for their ability to traverse thousands of kilometres to reach their breeding or wintering grounds. Research found that these birds, in this case, Eurasian reed warblers (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) are using only the Earth's magnetic inclination and declination to determine their position and direction. This challenges the long-held belief that all components of the Earth's magnetic field, especially total intensity, are essential for accurate navigation.
Updated: 2024-11-11 20:52:27
A series of rocks hiding around Colorado's Rocky Mountains may hold clues to a frigid period in Earth's past when glaciers several miles thick covered the entire planet.
Updated: 2024-11-10 06:12:45
The Hunga Tonga underwater volcano was one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history, and now, two years later, new research has revealed its main trigger.
Updated: 2024-11-10 06:12:44
Researchers showed that the 1995 Kobe (Hyogo-ken Nanbu) earthquake, which struck southern Hyogo Prefecture, may have been triggered by deep underground flooding beneath Arima Hot Springs. By analyzing the stable isotope ratios of hydrogen and oxygen as well as chloride ions in Arima hot spring water over several decades, the researchers have uncovered a likely connection between the earthquake and water originating from the subducting Philippine Sea Plate.
Updated: 2024-11-10 06:12:44
Geologists discover a mysterious subduction zone deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, reshaping our understanding of Earth's interior.
Updated: 2024-11-10 06:12:43
Researchers have discovered inorganic nanostructures surrounding deep-ocean hydrothermal vents that are strikingly similar to molecules that make life as we know it possible. These nanostructures are self-organized and act as selective ion channels, which create energy that can be harnessed in the form of electricity. The findings impact not only our understanding of how life began, but can also be applied to industrial blue-energy harvesting.
Updated: 2024-11-10 06:12:43
A mysterious type of iron-rich magma entombed within extinct volcanoes is likely abundant with rare earth elements and could offer a new way to source these in-demand metals, according to new research. Rare earth elements are found in smartphones, flat screen TVs, magnets, and even trains and missiles. They are also vital to the development of electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies such as wind turbines.
Updated: 2024-11-10 06:12:37
A Planetary Society-funded project to understand asteroids achieved its main goals and scientific objectives this year.
Updated: 2024-11-04 20:06:30
Fifteen minutes before the massive January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, a seismic wave was recorded by two distant seismic stations. The researchers propose that the seismic wave was caused by a fracture in a weak area of oceanic crust beneath the volcano's caldera wall. That fracture allowed seawater and magma to pour into and mix together in the space above the volcano's subsurface magma chamber, explosively kickstarting the eruption.
Updated: 2024-11-04 16:22:58
Research helps reconstruct an ancient climate and challenges the timing of the Andes Mountains uplift.
