Earth

Scientists have mused for centuries over questions about the origins of life on Earth. As it turns out, the answer may lie in a small, unassuming lake in British Columbia's Interior. Last Chance Lake, located about 150 kilometres northwest of Kamloops, B.C., is shallow and filled with murky water.A recent study from the University of Washington found it has just the right conditions to be what scientists call a "cradle of life" — a place where life could have spontaneously emerged billions of years ago. "We're trying to…

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Global temperatures have already exceeded 1.5°C warming and may pass 2°C later this decade, according to a world-first study I led. The worrying findings, based on temperature records contained in sea sponge skeletons, suggest global climate change has progressed much further than previously thought. Human-caused…

The chaos of lightning crackling through the sky has been speculated to play a key role in freeing elements like phosphorus, making it more accessible to burgeoning life on ancient Earth.Now, scientists have found geological evidence that the lightning discharges associated with volcanic events may have also played a role in nitrogen fixation, making it available for biological processes too.Since Earth is thought to have once been significantly more volcanically volatile in its younger years, the discovery suggests that…

Expedition 70 Flight Engineers (from left) Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara, both NASA astronauts, are pictured inside the cupola with Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus resupply ship outside in the grips of the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credit: SciTechDaily.comThe Expedition 70 crew was in the middle of its shift aboard the International Space Station (ISS) when the Axiom Mission 3 (Ax-3) crew splashed down off the coast of Florida on Friday. The seven orbital residents were exploring how microgravity affects bone cells and optical…

A drill core sample from the Barberton greenstone belt used in the study. The dark layers contain particles of carbonaceous matter, the altered remains from Palaeoarchaean microorganisms. Credit: Manuel ReinhardtThe research team has discovered complex microbial communities in ecosystems dating back over 3 billion years.Microorganisms are believed to be Earth’s earliest life forms, with evidence embedded in rocks that are 3.5 billion years old. These rocks contain geochemical and morphological markers, like specific…

A striking set of gigantic sunspots, first spotted from Mars and now designated AR3576, is currently facing Earth, capturing the attention of astronomers, space enthusiasts, and concerned space weather forecasters.Hurricanes and Climate | Extreme EarthThe cluster, nicknamed the “Martian sunspots,” was first discovered by NASA’s Perseverance rover using its MastCam in the final week of January. Since this initial observation, these sunspots have significantly increased in size and are now facing our planet. The entire…

NASA defines asteroids as ancient rocky, airless remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Through various experiments, scientists have known that while asteroids have the potential to cause catastrophic damage if they impact Earth, these objects can also become a resource hub. Space agencies keep a check on the orbits of these space rocks to avoid a potential collision scenario. They have also developed technology to track these space rocks in their orbits, and even…

Artists impression of 'Snowball Earth'. Credit: NASA Australian geologists have used plate tectonic modeling to determine what most likely caused an extreme ice-age climate in Earth's history, more than 700 million years ago. The study, published in Geology, helps our understanding of the functioning of the Earth's built-in thermostat that prevents…

NASA uses its advanced space and ground-based telescopes such as the NEOWISE telescope, Pans-STARRS1, and Catalina Sky Survey to keep an eye on asteroids that have the potential to threaten Earth. Using this advanced tech, the US Space Agency has shed light on an asteroid that is set to pass Earth at a distance that is even closer than the Moon today, February 8. Know its speed, size, distance of approach, and other details, as per the US Space Agency. Asteroid 2024 CK1: DetailsThe asteroid, given the designation of…

A massive, dead ESA satellite will fall back to Earth later this month. The satellite, which is known as ERS-2, first launched into orbit in 1995. Now, almost thirty years later, it will return to the Earth, crashing down through the atmosphere in an uncontrolled reentry.ERS-2 has been inoperable since 2011 when the satellite was “passivated,” which essentially means the ESA drained the batteries and fuel so that there was less chance of it blowing up and creating more space debris. Now, though, the dead…