Search Results for: antarctica

Earth

Satellites show how a massive lake in Antarctica vanished in days

Within six days, an Antarctic lake with twice the volume of San Diego Bay drained away, leaving a deep sinkhole filled with fractured ice.

Particle Physics

Carlos Argüelles hunts for particles beyond the standard model

Carlos Argüelles overcame hardship and discrimination to pursue a passion for physics.

Oceans

The Southern Ocean is still swallowing large amounts of humans’ carbon dioxide emissions

A 2018 study suggested the ocean surrounding Antarctica might be taking up less CO₂ than thought, but new data suggest it is still a carbon sink.

Planetary Science

A meteor may have exploded over Antarctica 430,000 years ago

Tiny spherules recovered from a mountaintop suggest a space rock broke apart midflight and sprayed debris across thousands of kilometers.

Health & Medicine

The first known monkeypox infection in a pet dog hints at spillover risk

A person passed monkeypox to a dog. Other animals might be next, allowing the virus to set up shop outside of Africa for the first time.

Planetary Science

Earth sweeps up 5,200 tons of extraterrestrial dust each year

Thousands of micrometeorites collected from Antarctica come from both comets and asteroids, a new study suggests.

Space

Artemis missions will usher in a new, more diverse crew of astronauts

Space agencies are preparing to send the next generation of astronauts to the moon and beyond. Here’s how the next crews will be different from the last ones.

Planetary Science

Organic molecules in an ancient Mars meteorite formed via geology, not alien life

Analysis of an ancient Martian meteorite reveals that organic molecules within it were formed by geologic processes rather than alien life.

Microbes

Missing Antarctic microbes raise thorny questions about the search for aliens

Scientists couldn’t find microbial life in soils from Antarctica, hinting at a limit for habitability on Earth and other worlds.

Climate

Wally Broecker divined how the climate could suddenly shift

Wally Broecker’s insight into the shutdown of the great ocean conveyor belt spurred the study of abrupt climate change.

Climate

Collapse may not always be inevitable for marine ice cliffs

Runaway collapse of ice cliffs could dramatically boost sea level. But these cliffs may not be so vulnerable, new simulations suggest.