Earth

By Leah Crane The rocks that came together to form Earth might have carried more water than we thoughtMARK GARLICK / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Our planet may have been born wet. When and how Earth got its water is an open question in planetary science. Now an analysis of meteorites from the inner solar system…

By Leah Crane The night sky is clearest from a hill in AntarcticaAntarctica / Alamy The best place in the world from which to look at the night sky is on top of a hill of ice in Antarctica called Dome A. The hill is one of the coldest locations on Earth. The telescope images…

By Adam Vaughan Plastic pollution in Naples, ItalySalvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket via Getty Images Plastic pollution is ubiquitous and growing, but knowing the best way to stop it has largely been a guessing game so far. Now, a study has found that if the world undertook every feasible action to cut plastic pollution, we would still only…

By Alice Klein Empty stands at a football match warm-up in Jeonju, South Korea, on 8 May 2020UNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images Lockdowns to contain the coronavirus led to drastic reductions in the vibrations of Earth’s surface, as people significantly curtailed their activity. Seismologists measure vibrations from earthquakes that travel through Earth’s surface. Their instruments…

Space 10 July 2020 By Jonathan O’Callaghan The young Earth and moonMARK GARLICK / SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY The sun is thought to have once been far fainter than it is today, which should have left Earth frozen as a global snowball. That it wasn’t, a discrepancy known as the faint young sun paradox, has long…