Lightning reacts with minerals to create the building blocks of life
Scientists stimulated atmospheric gases with electricity and found they reacted with common salts and minerals to form complex chemicals…
Category: Earth Systems
These articles summarize studies that are all about how the planet Earth works!
Exoplanets with weird orbits might be more habitable
Astronomers modeled the ideal climatic and atmospheric conditions for exoplanets and found that planets with non-circular orbits had more…
How will the melting Greenland Ice Sheet affect ocean currents?
Researchers found the melting Greenland Ice Sheet is releasing tons of icebergs into the North Atlantic Ocean that could further disrupt…
How complex life arose under extreme stress
Scientists discovered molecules that helped the first complex life forms build strong cell membranes to withstand extreme environments.
Remains of the Moon could be lurking inside Earth
Scientists used models to test whether remnants of the moon-forming impactor, Theia, are present deep within the Earth.
Researchers used bottled “lightning” to make ingredients for life
Scientists used spark discharge experiments to test whether lightning converted enough nitrogen to a usable form to support the origins of…
How quickly did life recover from the end-Permian mass extinction?
Paleontologists described exceptionally well-preserved fossils of a complex marine ecosystem that developed within 1 million years of a…
What’s making Earth’s atmosphere drier?
Scientists investigated humidity patterns in tree rings across Europe to test whether recently drier air is natural or caused by global…
Can scientists predict catastrophic floods?
Researchers showed river structure and moisture conditions can help predict large-scale flood events.
Scientists found a new way diamonds are made and destroyed
Geologists examined CT images of diamonds from southern Africa to determine what happens to them underground.