Formed

The new research indicates that the impactor would have to be about 20 to 25 kilometers (12.4 to 15.5 miles) in size and move at a velocity of 15 to 20 kilometers (9.3 to 12.4 miles) per second.Researchers at the University of Rochester have created a more accurate simulation of the impact that created the Vredefort crater two billion years ago.An impactor hurtled toward Earth around two billion years ago, crashing into the planet not far from where Johannesburg, South Africa is now. The impactor, most likely an asteroid,…

Credit: Durham UniversityPioneering scientists from Durham University’s Institute for Computational Cosmology used the most detailed supercomputer simulations yet to reveal an alternative explanation for the Moon’s origin, 4.5 billion years ago. It revealed that a giant impact between Earth and a <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt" data-cmtooltip="<div class=glossaryItemTitle>Mars</div><div class=glossaryItemBody>Mars is the second smallest planet in our solar…

A new simulation of how the Moon formed shows that it could have formed in the span of mere hours, NASA says. Billions of years ago, when Earth was much younger, it would have looked a lot different than it does now. This new simulation posits that an object the size of Mars may have collided with the Earth of that time, creating what would later become our Moon. The object in question is called Theia. This isn’t a new theory, either. Scientists have long believed that the origin of the Moon was caused by a…

There are many theories regarding how Moon is formed. Most…

Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The Pacific nation of Tonga is made up of 170 islands, but it just welcomed its newest addition—thanks to an underwater volcano. Near the center of the nation's island formation lies the…

Diamond, with its tough-to-break carbon lattice of interlocking cubes, is traditionally considered the hardest material on Earth. Yet a rare form of diamond known as lonsdaleite—a crystal with carbon atoms arranged in flexing three-dimensional hexagons—may be even harder than its cubic cousin. To date, natural lonsdaleite has been found only in impact craters, where it has formed by the intense pressure of meteorites crashing to Earth. But now researchers say that they’ve identified lonsdaleite crystals that formed…

Lakes appearing in Alaska because of melting permafrost are "belching" methane into the atmosphere, a scientist working with NASA said.These lakes, called thermokarsts, are so full of the climate-damaging gas that it can be seen bubbling to the surface.More and more of these lakes are appearing as Alaska's permafrost thaws with rising temperatures and increasing forest fires, according to a 2021 study.NASA's Arctic Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE) project is studying their effect on climate change, according to a…

This aerial photograph shows makeshift tents for people displaced due to the floods after heavy monsoon rains at Sohbatpur in Jaffarabad district of Balochistan province on September 4, 2022Photo: Fida HUSSAIN / AFP (Getty Images)A third of Pakistan is covered in floodwaters as the country suffers a devastating monsoon season. An inland lake seems to be forming around the southern Sindh province, satellite images show, while an existing lake has swelled dramatically. Images taken by NASA’s MODIS satellite sensor in late…

A Trader Joe’s in downtown Minneapolis became the second unionized location in the US on Friday, less than a month after a Massachusetts location became the first. One in Boulder, Colorado, could be next, bringing the effort to unionize the grocery chain across the country. There will likely be many more in between. This could be the start of a mass union effort at Trader Joe’s in which victory leads to victory, and unions become a reality for America’s retail and hospitality workers, who are among the lowest paid.…

The continents of Earth were formed by gigantic meteorite impacts that were particularly prevalent during the first billion years of our planet's four and a half billion year history, according to new Curtin research, which has presented the strongest proof to yet.Dr Tim Johnson, from Curtin's School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, said the idea that the continents originally formed at sites of giant meteorite impacts had been around for decades, but until now there was little solid evidence to support the theory."By…