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Simple Equation Predicts the Shapes of Carbon-Capturing Wetlands

May 28, 2024

To calculate the amount of carbon stored inside peatlands, researchers developed a unified theory of “bog physics” applicable around the world.

Deep Beneath Earth’s Surface, Clues to Life’s Origins

January 4, 2024

Last spring, scientists retrieved a trove of mantle rocks from underneath the Atlantic seafloor — a bounty that could help write the first chapter of life's story on Earth.

Q&A

The Scientist Who Decodes the Songs of Undersea Volcanoes

November 8, 2023

In the rumbles and groans of underwater volcanoes, Jackie Caplan-Auerbach finds her favorite harmonies — and clues to the Earth’s interior.

Fossilized Molecules Reveal a Lost World of Ancient Life

October 23, 2023

A new analysis of ancient sediments fills a gap in the fossil record — revealing a massive dynasty of ancient eukaryotes, which may have reigned for 800 million years and shaped the history of life of Earth.

How Quantum Physicists Explained Earth’s Oscillating Weather Patterns

July 18, 2023

By treating Earth as a topological insulator — a state of quantum matter — physicists found a powerful explanation for the movements of the planet’s air and seas.

Q&A

An Explorer of Abyssal Depths Looks to Oceans on Other Worlds

June 7, 2023

The marine geochemist Chris German brings decades of experience studying seafloor hydrothermal vents to NASA’s preparations for visits to other ocean worlds in our solar system.

Life Helps Make Almost Half of All Minerals on Earth

July 1, 2022

A new origins-based system for classifying minerals reveals the huge geochemical imprint that life has left on Earth. It could help us identify other worlds with life too.

Reshuffled Rivers Bolster the Amazon’s Hyper-Biodiversity

June 7, 2022

The lush biodiversity of the Amazon may be due in part to the dynamics of branching rivers, which serve as invisible fences that continuously barricade and merge bird populations.

A Solution to the Faint-Sun Paradox Reveals a Narrow Window for Life

January 27, 2022

We might have a past faint sun to owe for life’s existence. This has consequences for the possibility of life outside Earth.

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