Earth

Two asteroids passed Earth yesterday at the closest points in their orbit. Now, NASA has revealed that four more asteroids are expected to pass by Earth today, March 18. These space rocks often come close to Earth following an interaction with the gravitational field of a large planet like Jupiter. This sends these asteroids tumbling towards a planet, raising a potential impact scenario. Due to this uncertainty, it is crucial to observe and track asteroids in their orbits. Know all about the close encounter with a…

Our world may seem fragile, but Earth has been around for a very long time. If we ventured far back into the past, would we reach a time when it looked fundamentally different? The answer lies in some of the earliest extensive relics of Earth's surface, found in a remote corner of southern Africa's highveld—a region known to geologists as the Barberton Greenstone Belt. The geological formations in this region have proved difficult…

An annotated map of the world plotted with February 2024's most significant climate events. See the story below as well as the report summary from NOAA NCEI. Credit: NOAA/NCEI Last month continued the world's record-warm streak, with February 2024 ranking as the planet's warmest February on record—the ninth month in a row of record-warm months. What's…

The inter-galactic visitor is a cold, active cryovolcanic comet zipping through the skies and has earned a wicked nickname – the ‘Devil Comet’ – since it periodically explodes violently.A periodical comet, named ’12P/Pons-Brooks’ is scheduled to greet Earth from its closest point in the dark skies from April 21 as it zooms towards the sun on its return journey after 71 years, exciting the international scientific community.This week, the comet gave its early glimpses to humanity as a bright, tiny spot which was captured…

Like previous months, we've seen numerous asteroids fly past Earth in recent weeks. These space rocks come close to the planet when they interact with the gravitational field of a large planet like Jupiter. This entanglement knocks asteroids off their orbits and sends them hurtling towards a planet, raising a potential impact scenario. With the help of its advanced ground and space-based telescopes and satellites, NASA has shed light on an asteroid that is expected to pass Earth by a close margin today, March 12. Also…

By NASA March 11, 2024The SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft, with four Crew-7 crew members aboard, approaches the space station for a docking on Sunday, August 27, 2023. Credit: NASA TVThe SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov inside undocked from the forward-facing port of the International Space Station’s Harmony module at 11:20…

The cargo pallet after being tossed by the by the Canadarm2 robotic arm in 2021.Photo: NASAOn Friday, March 8, a pallet of used batteries from the International Space Station (ISS) reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the Gulf of Mexico following an unpredictable journey through orbit.Taking out the Trash (in Space)The pallet contained nine batteries and weighed in at 2.9 tons. It had been tossed by the Canadarm2 robotic arm in March 2021 and and has since been tumbling towards Earth in an uncontrolled reentry. The chaotic…

NASA's Crew 7 mission is poised to conclude its six-month residency aboard the International Space Station (ISS), with seven astronauts preparing to return to Earth. Throughout their extended stay, these astronauts have been diligently engaged in conducting several scientific experiments and technology demonstrations aimed at benefiting humanity and advancing NASA's readiness for future space missions.Scheduled for departure from the ISS on March 11, the Crew 7 members will bid farewell to their space home. The SpaceX…

The Earth is always rotating. Despite some hair-brained theories that the Earth is flat, all you need to see evidence of the Earth’s rotation and its roundness is to set up a camera and record the changes in the sky. That’s exactly what photographer Eric Brummel did a few years ago, and his beautiful timelapse showcases the Earth’s rotation in a breathtaking fashion.Brummel created the time-lapse by capturing several images of the sky while having the camera locked to the Earth’s rotation. This allowed him to…

Global distribution of soil organic carbon change for eight models present in both Coupled Model Intercomparison Project and CMIP6. Credit: AGU Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2023AV001068 Soil carbon is exactly what it sounds like: carbon collected and stored in soil. Plants pull carbon from the atmosphere during photosynthesis and deposit it into the soil as their leaves, stems, and roots decompose. In fact, soil contains more…