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We know that true polar wander (TPW) can occasionally tilt whole planets and moons relative to their axes, but it's not entirely clear just how often this has happened to Earth. Now a new study presents evidence of one such tilting event that occurred around 84 million years ago – when dinosaurs still walked the Earth. Researchers analyzed limestone samples from Italy, dating back to the Late Cretaceous period (100.5 to 65.5 million years ago), looking for evidence of shifts in the magnetic record that would point towards an occurrence of TPW. Bacteria fossils trapped in the rock, forming chains...

The first jolt, which struck off the coasts of Japan’s remote Bonin Islands, was recorded at magnitude 7.9 and up to 680 kilometers (423 miles) underground, making it one of the deepest quakes of its size. Then another oddity emerged in the cascade of aftershocks that followed: a tiny temblor that, if confirmed, would be the deepest earthquake ever detected. The ultradeep quake, described recently in the journal Geology, is estimated to have struck some 751 kilometers (467 miles) beneath the surface in the layer of our planet known as the lower mantle, where scientists have long thought earthquakes unlikely,...

Technically speaking, a micrometeoroid is a tiny piece of rock that under normal circumstances (like say after passing through Earth’s atmosphere) would pose no danger. The problem is these things are never to be found in normal circumstances, and are known to travel through space at speeds of over 22,000 mph (35,400 kph). At those speeds, and with virtually no way to detect them in time, they’re like cannon shells for anyone or anything standing in their way. The Glenn Research Center is the place where something called Ballistic Impact Lab resides. That would be a facility that houses a...

As suspected already last night by the presence of intermittent strombolian activity and the slowly rising tremor, this activity continued to evolve gradually throughout the night and early this morning. Tremor reached high levels at 7.40 a.m., followed by a strong increase of explosive activity at the SE crater from 10.15 a.m. Lava fountaining was observed to have started at around that time, and lasted until 12.20 p.m. It generated a dense ash plume that rose several kilometers and drifted east, producing ash falls in the area of Piedimonte and Linguaglossa.

'Biggest UK space impact found' By Paul Rincon Science reporter, BBC News The impact occurred about 1.2 billion years ago. Evidence of the biggest meteorite ever to hit the British Isles has been found by a team of scientists. Researchers from the universities of Oxford and Aberdeen think a large object hit north-west Scotland about 1.2 billion years ago. The space rock struck the ground near the present-day town of Ullapool, they report in Geology journal. The scientists found what they believe to be debris which was flung out when the impact crater was formed. "If there had been human...

Astronomers have used a planet-hunting satellite to see a white dwarf abruptly switching on and off for the first time. The researchers led by Durham University, UK, used NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) to observe the unique phenomenon. White dwarfs are what most stars become after they have burned off the hydrogen that fuels them. They are approximately the size of the Earth, but have a mass closer to that of the Sun. The white dwarf observed by the team is known to be accreting, or feeding, from an orbiting companion star. With the new observations astronomers saw it...

We really need to stop worrying about global warming, because according to James Gregory it's something we don't need to worry about. In this clip from his full Dry Bar Comedy special James Gregory debunks the idea of global warming by simply explaining that it's hot in the summer. Whether you're someone who is worried about climate change, or just someone who like the summer heat, this clip from James Gregory's full Dry Bar Comedy special is sure to keep you laughing from start to finish.We Really Need To Stop Worrying About Global Warming. James Gregory | September 24, 2021...

Scaglia Rossa Limestone exposed near Furlo, Italy, in the Northern Apennine Mountains. Limestone at this locality accumulated on the bottom of a shallow sea, in an arm of the ancient Mediterranean ocean nearly 85 million years ago, during what is called Late Cretaceous time. Credit: Ross Mitchell.Hold on to your hats, because scientists have found more evidence that Earth tips over from time to time. We know that the continents are moving slowly due to plate tectonics, but continental drift only pushes the tectonic plates past each other. It has been debated for the past few decades whether the...

We all know why mercury is extremely hot and have a valid reason. But It is also proved that its surface is extremely cold also like temperature fell up to -170degrees.On the day its temperature is around 840-degree Fahrenheit (451-degree Celsius) but at night it goes minus 275 Fahrenheit (-170 degrees Celsius.) You can see a change of temperature of nearly 1100 degrees Fahrenheit (600-degree Celcius). It’s all because of Mercury’s thin atmosphere that can not maintain the heat that it gets in the day and because of its huge day and night.

Nuking an incoming asteroid as a last-ditch effort to save the planet has long captivated the imaginations of real-life experts and filmmakers alike. But many astronomers have maintained that it would never work, saying we should come up with other ideas instead. But new research may show that those naysayers are wrong, Gizmodo reports, because computer simulations indicate that a last-minute nuclear strike actually has a good chance at saving the planet after all. That’s good news, as most other viable strategies require years, or perhaps even decades, of planning. “Simply stated, for a 100-meter object that’s projected to hit...

Left: what the tunnel would look like; right: what the sky does look like. (Image Credit Below) Mysterious structures in the sky that have puzzled astronomers for decades might finally have an explanation – and it's quite something. The North Polar Spur and the Fan Region, on opposite sides of the sky, may be connected by a vast system of magnetized filaments. These form a structure resembling a tunnel that circles the Solar System, and many nearby stars besides. "If we were to look up in the sky," said astronomer Jennifer West of the University of Toronto in Canada, "we...

A woman in Canada awoke in shock earlier this week when a rock crashed through the ceiling of her home and landed on her bed, narrowly missing her but spraying grit and other debris on her face, as her dog barked frantically. “I was in shock and I just sat here for a few hours shaking,” she said. “The odds of that happening are so small so I’m pretty grateful to be alive.”

A team of international scientists compared the temperature of cosmic gas farther away from Earth (and, therefore, farther back in time) to younger gases nearer to our planet and to the present day. According to their calculations, in the past 10 billion years, the mean temperature of these gases has increased by more than 10 times,

Apophis will still pass by the Earth in 2029 – specifically on April 13 – at a distance less than 20,000 miles (32,000 kilometers) from the Earth's surface. The massive asteroid known as 99942 Apophis was once considered among the most dangerous asteroid in space, with the potential to strike Earth very high. When it was discovered, the 370-meter asteroid's trajectory towards the planet made many fear that an impact could actually happen. Ultimately, however, this situation now seems unlikely thanks to additional data gathered by astronomers. As such, NASA has declared the planet free of risk from any asteroid...

Ruth Hamilton of Golden, British Columbia woke up to the sound of a crash and dust on her face the night of October 4. Onlookers had enjoyed a meteor sighting earlier that night above Lake Louise, about 52 mi east. Hamilton, who was unharmed, saw a rock on her pillow right next to where her head usually lies. She called 911, and she and an officer made calls to confirm that it wasn't debris from nearby construction at the Kicking Horse Canyon. 'We called the Canyon project to see if they were doing any blasting and they weren't, but they...

A powerful solar storm is due to hit Earth today and could cause havoc for power grids, weather agencies have warned. The UK's Met Office and the US's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have forecasted a coronal mass ejection (CME) – a massive expulsion of plasma from the Sun's corona (its outermost layer) at around 12pm EST (5pm BST) today. Possible effects of the solar storm, caused by the CME, are power grid fluctuations and orientation irregularities for spacecraft in the form of 'increased drag' on low-Earth orbiters. The aurora – a natural light display in Earth's sky, also...

A massive solar flare is due to hit Earth today, authorities are warning - potentially disrupting power grids and bringing the Northern Lights as far south as New York. The flare - officially known as a coronal mass ejection (CME) - was observed on Saturday on the side of the sun directly facing our planet and comes as we enter a period of increased solar activity. An alert was published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which warned the geomagnetic storm could cause power grid fluctuations with voltage alarms at higher latitudes, where the Earth is more...

A new study published in Nature’s Scientific Reports by researchers at the Danish National Space Institute at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem suggests that the Sun’s activity in screening cosmic rays affects clouds and, ultimately, the Earth's energy budget with concomitant climatic effects. Science editor David Whitehouse interviews Professor Henrik Svensmark, one of the study's authors.

It’s almost time to look up, because the Orionids are coming to the Northern Hemisphere from October 16-24. You’ll be able to see the shooting stars without the need for a telescope or binoculars. But to see them at their very best, you’ll want to wake up early: from 4:00-5:00 A.M Daylight Savings Time, according to Farmer’s Almanac, you should be able to see anything from 10 to over 30 meteors each hour. What is it, precisely, that you’re watching in the night sky? That’d be trails of cosmic dust from Halley’s Comet sparking up against Earth’s atmosphere at speeds...

An illustration showing the DART spacecraft blasting toward the asteroid Didymos. (Image credit: NASA) NASA has announced the launch date for an upcoming mission to punch an asteroid in the face with a high-speed spacecraft. The mission, called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), is scheduled to launch at 10:20 p.m. PST (7:20 p.m. EST) on Nov. 23, and it could help the world's space agencies figure out how to divert potentially lethal asteroids from impacting Earth, according to a NASA statement. DART will test an asteroid defense plan called the kinetic impactor technique — essentially, shooting one or more...