Earth is bracing for a solar minimum: a dormant period in which the Sun radiates less energy or heat at our planet than usual.
Analysis finds that the planet’s protective shield was in place by at least 3.7 billion years ago, as early life arose.
Scientists now believe that our Sun is capable of producing a type of powerful and disruptive ‘superflare’.
An “exceptional phenomenon” near the tiny islands of Mayotte may help explain a low-frequency rumble that swept around the world last year.
The gaseous layer that wraps around Earth reaches up to 630,000 kilometers away, or 50 times the diameter of our planet, according to a new study based on observations by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, SOHO, and published in AGU’s Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics.
Slow-motion collisions of tectonic plates under the ocean drag about three times more water down into the deep Earth than previously estimated, according to a first-of-its-kind seismic study that spans the Mariana Trench.
The tiny particles provide an independent test of some of the planet’s key properties
The Earth has been through a lot of changes in its 4.5 billion year history, including a shift to start incorporating and retaining volatile compounds from the atmosphere in the mantle before spewing them out again through volcanic eruptions.
All of this adds a new layer to the search for life on other planets: apart from finding planets in the “Goldilocks” area, where they are neither too far nor too close to their star….
Overall a worthwhile adventure!
