All Stories by Katherine Kornei
- Planetary Science
Marsquakes hint that the planet might be volcanically active after all
Seismic data recorded by NASA’s InSight lander suggest molten rock moves tens of kilometers below the planet’s fractured Cerberus Fossae region.
- Earth
Landslides shaped a hidden landscape within Yellowstone
Scientists have used lasers to get a detailed view of the national park’s topography, and they’ve spotted more than a thousand landslides.
- Planetary Science
Mars’ buried ‘lake’ might just be layers of ice and rock
Evidence grows that possible detections of liquid water buried near Mars’ south pole might not hold water.
- Environment
Mangrove forests expand and contract with a lunar cycle
The carbon-sequestering trees grow in a roughly 18-year cycle according to tides influenced by the moon’s orbit, a study in Australia finds.
- Planetary Science
Passing through the Milky Way’s arms may have helped form Earth’s solid ground
Barrages of comets stirred up by the early solar system’s journey around the center of the galaxy could explain the timing of ancient rock formation.
- Astronomy
The discovery of the Kuiper Belt revamped our view of the solar system
Thirty years ago, astronomers found the Kuiper Belt, a region of space home to Pluto and other icy worlds that helped show how the solar system evolved.
- Planetary Science
Asteroid impacts might have created some of Mars’ sand
Roughly a quarter of the Red Planet’s sand is spherical bits of glass forged in violent impacts, new observations reveal.
- Astronomy
A celestial loner might be the first known rogue black hole
The object could be the first isolated stellar-mass black hole identified in the Milky Way — or it might be an unusually heavy neutron star.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s InSight lander has recorded the largest Marsquake yet
The magnitude 5 temblor, detected May 4, will help scientists learn more about the Red Planet’s interior.
- Climate
Coastal cities around the globe are sinking
Of 99 coastal cities, nearly one-third are sinking in some places at more than a centimeter per year, making them more vulnerable to rising seas.
- Oceans
Some deep-sea octopuses aren’t the long-haul moms scientists thought they were
Off California’s coast, some octopuses lay eggs in the warmer water of geothermal springs in the “Octopus Garden,” speeding up their development.
