Earth news stories on Newser

'Ring of Fire' Eclipse Wows

Mary Papenfuss — Mon, 21 May 2012 05:23:38 CDT

The rare "ring of fire" annular solar eclipse did not disappoint. Millions of watchers from Tokyo to San Francisco and Albuquerque stood transfixed before homemade pinhole boxes, telescope projections, live action on computers—or peered at the sky with special cardboard glasses as the moon moved into position to turn...

Digging Through Planet Earth? Here's Where You'd Appear

Neal Colgrass — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:35:34 CDT

A journey through the center of the Earth would spit you out on the other side—but where? A Google Maps-based website aims to answer that question. AntipodeMap.com allows you to pick a location and automatically see the spot on the opposite side of the globe, Mashable reports. Most...

Solar Storm 'Hitting Us in Nose'

Polly Davis Doig — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 07:48:24 CST

While most of us were busily counting sheep or howling at the nearly-full moon last night, plasma and charged particles produced by Tuesday night's massive solar flares were hurtling toward the planet at 4 million mph, reports Space.com . This material, the largest coronal mass ejection (CME) in five years,...

NASA Releases Flip Side of High-Res Earth Image

John Johnson — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:51:43 CST

NASA released its 2012 version of the "Blue Marble" image of earth from space last month, and it went viral in a hurry. What to do for an encore? Show the other side. The first image focused on the western hemisphere. Citing huge demand, NASA this week released a companion...

Thank Moss for Livable Planet

Matt Cantor — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:11:22 CST

About 480 million years ago, the planet was a much hotter place—and we have moss to thank for the habitable Earth we enjoy today, research suggests. Back then, 16 times as much carbon dioxide existed in the atmosphere, scientists think. Some 20 million years later, carbon dioxide levels had...

NASA Has 'Most Amazing' Blue Marble Photo Yet

John Johnson — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:08:51 CST

Fans of NASA's "Blue Marble" images of Earth have a new gem to marvel at, notes Gizmodo . The agency has released on its Flickr stream what it calls the "most amazing, highest resolution image of Earth ever." It's a composite taken by a newly launched satellite. The first Blue Marble...

Space Telescope Spots Earth-Sized Worlds

Matt Cantor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:25:58 CST

For the first time, scientists have discovered planets roughly the size of ours outside our solar system. Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f are the smallest exoplanets yet found, Discovery reports. Because they're so close to the star they orbit, they don't appear habitable, but the finding is "next major milestone to finding...

Dead Sea Dried Up 120K Years Ago

Dustin Lushing — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:41:27 CST

Scientists have discovered that the Dead Sea pretty much vanished 120,000 years ago when the earth was as warm, or slightly warmer, than it is today, reports the BBC . It's in danger of doing the same today, this time helped along by populated areas taking the water that would...

NASA Spots Habitable Earth-Like Planet

Neal Colgrass — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:29:18 CST

Finally, an Earth-like planet where the weather is nice enough for an occasional visit. Only, it's 600 light-years away. Today NASA announced the existence of Kepler-22b, the first-ever planet discovered in the "habitable zone" of a sun-like star—where temperatures are placid enough to allow for water, ScienceNOW reports. "It's...