Burning coal in Siberia ignited by volcanic eruptions led to catastrophic global warming that caused the Earth’s most severe extinction event 250 million years ago Scientists argue magma burned through seams of coal exacerbating warming End Permian extinction saw around 90 per cent of life on Earth wiped out Researchers warm it is an early … Read more
New ‘sun clock’ predicts when Earth’s star will wake from its slumber, helping experts prepare for extreme space weather events that knock out power grids and satellites The sun is currently sleeping, but experts say an awakening is imminent When it wakes, it will increase solar activity and create extreme space weather Scientists have now designed … Read more
About half of Earth’s ice-free land remains unaltered by humans and can still be protected with swift conservation measures, a new study shows. US researchers compared four recent global maps showing the conversion of natural lands to ‘anthropogenic land’ – land that has been exploited by humans. Encouragingly, about half, or somewhere between 48 and … Read more
What lies beneath: Researchers map hot, dense structures in the Earth’s mantle for the first time using a technique developed to explore deep space Experts from Baltimore, US, repurposed an algorithm known as the Sequencer This tool can automatically pick out trends from within large-scale datasets The team used it to analyse thousands of seismograms from … Read more
Marine species are edging closer to Earth’s poles at an average pace of 3.7 miles per year as climate change causes global ocean temperatures to rise Experts reviewed 258 studies into shifting habitat ranges with climate change They used this to make a database, BioShifts, that covers some 12,000 species Marine species are moving poleward six times faster … Read more
Scientists have made a shocking discovery – the Earth’s magnetic field is weakening. The magnetic field is vital for life on our planet, as it shields us from cosmic radiation and charged particles emitted from the sun. A large region of reduced magnetic intensity has been observed between Africa and South America, called the South … Read more
Look up! The moon and Mars will appear ‘tangled’ on May 14 as Earth’s natural satellite enters its last quarter phase in the pre-dawn sky The moon is entering its last quarter phase and will appear to sit next to Mars The event will be visible to the world an hour or two before sunrise … Read more
Russian rocket disintegrates in Earth’s orbit leaving behind 65 pieces of dangerous space debris that could damage other satellites The upper stage of a Russian rocket broke apart over the Indian ocean on May 8 The rocket was used to launch the Spektr-R radio telescope into orbit in 2011 Fregat-SB is a type of space … Read more
New study reveals how Chinook salmon use the Earth’s magnetic field as a kind of GPS signal to help navigate in the ocean Researchers confirmed the existence of magnetite crystals in Chinook salmon The crystals allow the salmon to sense magnetic pulses from the Earth They use these pulses as a biological GPS signal to … Read more
The Earth’s tectonic plates started moving more than 3.2 billion years ago – just over 1.3 billion years after the Earth first formed and earlier than originally thought. The outermost shell of the Earth is broken down into seven major tectonic plates and many smaller ones that move between 0.4 inches and 6.2 inches per … Read more