All Stories by Thomas Sumner
- Earth
Early life probably fell victim to massive space rocks
Planet-sterilizing impacts probably snuffed out early life on Earth until around 4.3 billion years ago.
- Earth
Merging magma can set off supervolcanoes in less than 10,000 years
The reconstruction of a massive eruption 4.5 million years ago near Yellowstone National Park suggests that magma chambers merging together beneath a supervolcano can trigger explosions in less than 10,000 years.
- Earth
Wonders of the northern lights
An Icelandic aurora catches a photographer’s eye and a contest prize.
- Earth
Sandstone structures form without cement
Lasting sandstone structures form when weighed-down sand locks into stable formations, researchers find in laboratory experiment.
- Climate
Cell phone towers monitor African rains
Scientists used cell phone towers to monitor African rains, a method that could track weather in regions without robust meteorological infrastructure.
- Physics
Diamonds under pressure impersonate exoplanet cores
Scientists use lasers at the National Ignition Facility to squeeze diamonds to the extreme pressures found inside massive exoplanets.
- Oceans
Saharan dust explains Bahamas’ paradoxical existence
Windswept dust from the Sahara Desert may fertilize bacteria that built the Bahamas.
- Earth
Gravity variations foretell flood risk months in advance
Tiny gravitational tugs from saturated river basins allow NASA satellites to forecast flood risk.
- Paleontology
Flightless dino-bird wore full-body feathers
Recently unearthed Archaeopteryx fossil sports full coat of feathers, suggesting feather evolution was more complex than previously thought.
