POPULAR MECHANICS - Like all of us, the Earth goes through phases. Over the course of its existence, the planet’s climactic processes have relied on certain mechanisms to regulate its temperature—mechanisms that can have profound impacts on the surface of the planet and, in turn, the life that inhabits that surface. During the Jurassic period...
POPULAR MECHANICS - For the past three decades, scientists have been bad-mouthing a sizable chunk of Earth’s history (roughly 1.8 billion years ago to 800 million years ago) by giving it nicknames like the “Barren Billion,” the “Boring Billion,” or the Earth’s “Middle Ages.” At first glance, the monikers may be warranted—compared to more dynamic...
LIVE SCIENCE - The Arctic Ocean was once an important source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere — and it could become one again, researchers warn. Methane (CH4) is second only to carbon dioxide (CO2) in trapping heat in Earth's atmosphere. Since 2020, human-driven greenhouse gas emissions have increased atmospheric methane by about 10 parts...
DAILY GALAXY - Earth’s familiar green landscape might not have always been so. According to new scientific research published in the journal International Journal of Astrobiology, our planet may have once shimmered in shades of purple, driven by a completely different form of life than we know today. This striking idea doesn’t just reshape our...
LIVE SCIENCE - Earth may respond to the huge quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) that humans are pumping into the atmosphere by "overcorrecting" the imbalance, which could result in the next ice age arriving on time instead of being delayed by tens of thousands of years, as had previously been predicted. This is due to...
POLITICO - BLOWING STEAM: Will California remain king of U.S. geothermal energy production? Or will other states snatch the crown? That was the decision before Gov. Gavin Newsom, according to the geothermal industry and its allies, as he weighed signing their two top-priority bills of this session. Newsom signed one and vetoed the other on...
SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - The biological history of leeches is difficult to study: Their tissue decomposes almost immediately, and their boneless bodies rarely fossilize. But a geological formation in Wisconsin preserved a leech fossil for 437 million years, a new study finds. It’s the first-ever discovery of its kind—and an analysis of the preserved leech suggests...
ZME SCIENCE - Leeches are some of the most hated creatures in the world, even though most people rarely (if ever) see one. We even use the word as an insult. A leech is a parasite, someone who lives only to suck the blood from others. But leeches deserve more respect. A newly described fossil...
DISCOVER MAGAZINE - It’s the beginning of the spooky season, which means ghouls, ghosts, and bloodsuckers abound. One of the most famous bloodsuckers in nature is, of course, the leech. These parasites feed on blood and have been used throughout history to treat a whole host of medical problems in humans. Now, for the first...
INTERESTING ENGINEERING - A new study has provided fresh insights into how Earth recycles its carbon. Rock weathering acts as the slow, reliable mechanism that stabilizes Earth’s climate. The easy explanation is that rain, rocks, and carbon burial keep the climate in check, but new research shows this account may be incomplete. The University of...