Our planet’s history includes episodes of cold so extreme that glaciers reached sea level in equatorial regions. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/whats-coldest-earth-has-ever-been…
Tag: tectonics
What is plate tectonics?
Blame plate tectonics for Earth’s mountains, earthquakes, volcanoes, and why its continents fit together like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. Source: https://www.livescience.com/37706-what-is-plate-tectonics.html
Update on the 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby TRAPPIST-1
A new study of the seven Earth-sized exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1 indicate that all 7 planets are extremely similar to each other in makeup, but potentially quite different from Earth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/7-trappist-1-planets-similar-composition-unlike-earth…
Plate tectonics may have begun a billion years earlier than thought
Plate tectonics may have begun 4 billion years ago, almost a billion years earlier than thought, according to a new analysis of ancient rocks Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2260500-plate-tectonics-may-have-begun-a-billion-years-earlier-than-thought/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
AI Has Cracked a Key Mathematical Puzzle For Understanding Our World
An anonymous reader shares a report: Unless you’re a physicist or an engineer, there really isn’t much reason for you to know about partial differential equations. I know. After years of poring over them in undergrad while studying mechanical engineering, I’ve never used them since in the real world. But partial differential equations, or PDEs, are also kind of magical. They’re…
Looking for Life? Researchers Identify 24 Exoplanets Even More Habitable Than Earth
“Astrobiologists have identified 24 exoplanets that aren’t just potentially habitable, they’re potentially superhabitable, exhibiting an array of conditions more suitable to life than what’s seen on Earth…” reports Gizmodo: For exoplanets to be superhabitable, they should be older, larger, heavier, warmer, and wetter compared to Earth, and ideally located around stars with longer lifespans than our own. So yeah, not only…
Billion-year-old Martian dunes reveal planet’s history
The discovery of near-perfectly preserved billion-year-old Martian dunes is helping scientists to unravel the geologic and climatic history of the red planet. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/billion-year-old-martian-dunes-reveal-planet-history…
Searching for habitable exoplanets? Look for phosphorus
Scientists develop a new way to search for potentially habitable exoplanets by measuring the amount of phosphorus in their stars. Such planets should also have abundant phosphorus – necessary for life on Earth – increasing the chances for life. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/phosphorus-in-stars-and-biomarker-habitable-exoplanets…
Cool! Here’s how Venus would look as a water world
A new map created by a Reddit user – based on what we know about the highs and lows on Venus’ surface – shows what this neighboring, cloud-shrouded, blazing hot planet might look like with oceans. Wow! Source: https://earthsky.org/space/venus-map-with-oceans-on-surface-terraforming…
The true polar wander of Jupiter’s moon Europa
Cracks in Europa’s surface indicate the moon’s outer ice shell has shifted by as much as 70 degrees over the past several million years. It’s the kind of movement you’d expect from a planetary crust floating on a subsurface ocean. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/europa-ice-shell-70-degree-shift-true-polar-wander…