Thomas Sumner

All Stories by Thomas Sumner

  1. Planetary Science

    Why you can hear and see meteors at the same time

    People can see and hear meteors simultaneously because of radio waves produced by the descending space rocks.

  2. Earth

    Ice particles shaped like lollipops fall from clouds

    Small ice particles called ice-lollies, because of their lollipop-like appearance, can form in clouds.

  3. Planetary Science

    Mars may not have been born alongside the other rocky planets

    Mars formed farther away from the sun than its present-day orbit, not near the other terrestrial planets, new research suggests.

  4. Earth

    Crack in Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf forks

    An 180-kilometer-long rift in Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf has forked into two branches, new satellite observations show.

  5. Earth

    Crack in Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf forks

    An 180-kilometer-long rift in Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf has forked into two branches, new satellite observations show.

  6. Planetary Science

    Here’s how an asteroid impact would kill you

    Most deaths caused by an asteroid impact would result from shock waves and winds generated from the blast, rather than effects such as earthquakes and tsunamis, new simulations show.

  7. Environment

    ‘Fossil’ groundwater is not immune to modern-day pollution

    Ancient groundwater that is thousands of years old is still susceptible to modern pollution, new research suggests.

  8. Climate

    Plot twist in methane mystery blames chemistry, not emissions, for recent rise

    The recent rise in atmospheric methane concentrations may have been caused by changes in atmospheric chemistry, not increased emissions from human activities, two new studies suggest.

  9. Oceans

    The Arctic is a final garbage dump for ocean plastic

    Ocean currents dump plastic garbage from the North Atlantic into previously pristine Arctic waters, new research shows.

  10. Oceans

    The Arctic is a final garbage dump for ocean plastic

    Ocean currents dump plastic garbage from the North Atlantic into previously pristine Arctic waters, new research shows.

  11. Earth

    ‘River piracy’ on a high glacier lets one waterway rob another

    The melting of one of Canada’s largest glaciers has rerouted meltwater from one stream into another in an instance of river piracy.

  12. Oceans

    More than one ocean motion determines tsunami size

    The horizontal movement of the seafloor during an earthquake can boost the size of the resulting tsunami, researchers propose.