Category: Earth

Researchers at the Planetary Science Institute have compiled a 1:200,000-scale geological map of the lunar Orientale basin, focusing on identifying the most widespread and accessible occurrences of impact melt deposits from the basin-forming…

An asteroid struck Mars 11 million years ago and sent pieces of the planet hurtling through space; one of these chunks eventually crashed into the Earth. During early investigations of this object, named Lafayette meteorite, scientists discovered…

Researchers from the University of Tokyo and elsewhere have found pockets of living microbes in mineral-filled veins within 2-billion-year-old rock from the Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa.

They were said to come from outer space, and there were even claims that they were actually bacteria and that they undermined the very definition of viruses. Giant viruses, nicknamed “giruses,” contain enormous quantities of genetic material…

The summer of 2024 was the hottest on record and, unfortunately, this came as no surprise. Summers have been getting hotter and drier around the world, including in the Northern Hemisphere, leading to intense droughts and heatwaves in North…

Photosynthesis, the process by which plants, algae and certain kinds of bacteria convert solar radiation into chemical energy, must adjust itself to changes in the intensity of sunlight, so as to ensure its efficient use. Just like our pupils,…

The Mesoamerican site of Mitla was swallowed by a seismic landslide event, according to a new study by the Lyobaa Project.

Mitla, known as Mictlán in Nahuatl, means the “place of the dead” or “Underworld”. Mitla was established in…

A new study, published in the Quaternary Newsletter journal, suggests that the Bristol Channel was a glacial transport route.

This is evidenced by a large glacial erratic discovered in Limeslade Bay, which has its origins in North Pembrokeshire. A…