Earth

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Life Could Lurk Deep Beneath Earth—in Its Oldest Water

Huge amounts of hydrogen gas beneath Earth's surface could feed organisms

(Newser) - Much like on Earth's surface, water and rock reside deep within its crust, and they date to the earliest parts of the planet's history—leaving researchers fascinated by the secrets they may hold. In a new study published in Nature , they explain that not only is there more...

Ancient Meteorites Change Story of Earth's Water

Study: Water on Earth appears to have arrived 4.6B years ago

(Newser) - At least when it comes to life as we know it, water is a basic requirement. So a new analysis of meteorites suggesting that water could have appeared on Earth 14 million years after the start of solar system some 4.6 billion years ago—more than a hundred million...

Our Magnetic Poles Could Swap Sooner Than We Thought

But it's nothing to worry about, experts say

(Newser) - Earth's magnetic field is weakening at 10 times the rate experts thought it was—and that could mean a reversal of the magnetic north and south poles could be coming sooner than expected. But don't panic just yet: Scientists are talking in terms of some 2,000 years,...

Water on Earth Older Than Sun, Earth Itself

Water molecules more than 4.5 billion years old are in our drinking water, oceans

(Newser) - If you live and die by food and beverage expiration dates, you might not want to know how old some of our drinking water is. A study finds that 30% to 50% of the water found in our taps and oceans contains molecules created more than 4.5 billion years...

After 10-Year Chase, Space Probe Catches Comet

Spacecraft to be 1st to hook up with a comet in yearlong trip around sun

(Newser) - The thrill is often in the chase itself—though for European Space Agency scientists, there's definitely a thrill in actually catching the object they've been chasing. The Rosetta space probe, which was sent hurtling through space a decade ago to hunt down comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko—aka the "rubber...

The Moon Isn't Round— It Bulges Like a Lemon

The moon has a small bulge in its middle, but we can't see it

(Newser) - We may have walked on it 45 years ago, but scientists have only now discovered the true shape of Earth's moon. And while it appears to be a perfect sphere, it's actually "like a lemon with an equatorial bulge," one researcher tells the New York Times ...

We Got Earth's Birthday Wrong by 60M Years

Same goes for the moon, say scientists

(Newser) - The planet we're living on is about 60 million years older than previously thought. So say scientists in France who studied quartz from Australia and South Africa that dates back about 3 billion years, reports Phys.org . The ratio of gases in the quartz compared to today's ratios...

Water 'Missing for Decades' Found 400 Miles Beneath US

But the water is neither liquid, ice, nor vapor: researchers

(Newser) - Four hundred miles beneath the United States, there appears to be enough water to fill all our oceans—almost three times. Researchers have for the first time discovered direct evidence of the water, which exists as a fourth form: not liquid, not ice, not vapor, but hydrogen and oxygen molecules...

On Deck Today: 'Beast' Asteroid Does Earth Fly-By

2014 HQ124 will come within 777K miles of your planet

(Newser) - Earthlings, prepare to meet the Beast: An 1,100-foot-wide asteroid thus nicknamed is doing a fly-by of the planet today, and if it were on a slightly different trajectory, well, we'd be in some trouble. As Space.com reports, the Beast, better known as 2014 HQ124, is traveling at...

'Paradox' of MIA Atmospheric Gas Solved

Xenon likely packed in the Earth's core: researchers

(Newser) - Levels of the gas xenon in the Earth's atmosphere are way lower—to the tune of 90%—than scientists believe they should be, prompting a mystery one calls "the missing xenon paradox." While some believe the gas escaped into space, many have argued it's in the...

Earth&#39;s Oldest Rocks: 4.4B-Year-Old Crystals


 Earth's Oldest Rocks: 
 4.4B-Year-Old Crystals 
study says
Feb 24, 2014 9:46 AM CST

Earth's Oldest Rocks: 4.4B-Year-Old Crystals

They're not much younger than the planet itself

(Newser) - When scientists claimed more than a decade ago that tiny crystals in Australia were 4.4 billion years old, they faced skepticism. The Earth itself, after all, is 4.5 billion years old, the Sydney Morning Herald notes. "Nothing in science goes without being questioned," geochemist John Valley...

Asteroid Whizzes by Earth Tonight

It won't hit us, but you can watch it online

(Newser) - It's big (about the size of three football fields) and it's fast (about 27,000mph), and it's zipping by our planet tonight. Earthlings, meet asteroid 2000 EM26. As Space.com explains, the asteroid poses no threat of actually hitting the planet when it flies by at a...

This Is What Earth Looks Like From Mars

Curiosity rover photographs our planet

(Newser) - The Mars rover Curiosity paused last week to take a photo of its home planet, and NASA points out that Earth is "shining brighter than any star in the Martian light." If you look carefully—one of the images provides help—you can pick out the moon just...

There Are Billions of Earth-Like Planets in Our Galaxy

At least 8.8 billion planets like ours in the Milky Way, study finds

(Newser) - Space is vast, but it may not be so lonely after all: A study finds the Milky Way is teeming with billions of planets that are about the size of Earth, orbit stars just like our sun, and exist in the Goldilocks zone—not too hot and not too cold...

Study Suggests Earth Life Began on Mars

Building blocks of life may have arrived via meteorite: scientist

(Newser) - Were our earliest ancestors Martians? A new study suggests that all life on Earth may have originated on the Red Planet, the BBC reports. That's because Mars would have had plenty of the minerals that are best at forging RNA, which is one of the key components of life...

Photos of Earth, Taken 900M Miles Away

We're just a dot in NASA pics

(Newser) - Stunning new pictures taken from near Saturn and Mercury make our planet look pretty insignificant. We're just a tiny dot next to Saturn in an image taken by the NASA spacecraft Cassini, Space.com reports. That makes it a little tough to see that some 20,000 humans were...

Earth Once Had a 2nd Moon: Scientist

 Earth Once Had a 
 2nd Moon: Scientist 
in case you missed it
Jul 14, 2013 7:39 AM CDT

Earth Once Had a 2nd Moon: Scientist

Theory gets new life breathed into it

(Newser) - Earth may have once looked a little more like Mars: a planet with two moons. It's not the first time the theory has been trotted out by Erik Asphaug, but it's getting new life thanks to an upcoming conference about our natural satellite. The University of California at...

Scientists Find Mysterious Changes in Earth's Spin

Something at Earth's core responsible for changes every 6 years

(Newser) - How fast our planet turns—and, in turn, how long our day is—is not a stagnant thing. In fact, it changes every 5.9 years, according to a new study published in Nature . The Earth spins slightly faster or slower on a regular cycle, adding or subtracting milliseconds to...

Earth&#39;s Core as Hot as Sun&#39;s Surface
 Earth's Core 
 as Hot as 
 Sun's Surface 
study says
Apr 26, 2013 3:20 PM CDT

Earth's Core as Hot as Sun's Surface

New study puts it at nearly 11K degrees Fahrenheit

(Newser) - For two decades, scientists have thought the Earth's solid core was a balmy 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit or so, based on the temperature at which iron crystallizes when under high pressure. But new research using X-rays to examine iron under huge amounts of pressure indicate the real temperature of...

Asteroid Buzzes By, World Spins On

It came within a relative whisker of 17K miles

(Newser) - The world is safe: That 150-foot cosmic rock astronomers were watching hurtled safely past Earth about 2:30pm Eastern. It was the closest known flyby for a rock of its size, passing within 17,500 miles, closer than some satellites. The asteroid was invisible to astronomers in the US at...

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