We care about your data, and we'd like to use cookies to give you a smooth browsing experience. Please agree and read more about our privacy policy.
  • Physics

  • Mathematics

  • Biology

  • Computer Science

  • Topics

  • Archive

What's up in

geophysics

Destruction from 1999 Taiwan earthquake.
Abstractions blog

New Earthquake Math Predicts How Destructive They’ll Be

By Robin George Andrews
April 21, 2020
Read Later

The “pinball” model of a slipping fault line borrows from the mathematics of avalanches.

Paleontologist Pincelli Hull
Q&A

A Rapid End Strikes the Dinosaur Extinction Debate

By Joshua Sokol
March 25, 2020
Read Later

The paleontologist Pincelli Hull has nailed down the timing and speed of the extinction that killed off the dinosaurs — details that carry ominous warnings for today.

Spinning globe highlighting LLVSPs.
geophysics

Continents of the Underworld Come Into Focus

By Joshua Sokol
January 7, 2020
Read Later

Giant blobs nestled deep in the Earth may influence everything from the structure of island chains to mass-extinction events.

A sandy beach at low tide dotted with ancient tree stumps.
geophysics

Artificial Intelligence Takes On Earthquake Prediction

By Ashley Smart
September 19, 2019
Read Later

After successfully predicting laboratory earthquakes, a team of geophysicists has applied a machine learning algorithm to quakes in the Pacific Northwest.

planetary science

Asteroid Rate Jumped in Solar System’s Past

By Joshua Sokol
January 17, 2019
Read Later

An analysis of lunar craters has found that we’ve been living in a relatively violent period in cosmic history.

Art for "How Nearby Stellar Explosions Could Have Killed Off Large Animals"
Abstractions blog

How Nearby Stellar Explosions Could Have Killed Off Large Animals

By Rebecca Boyle
January 15, 2019
Read Later

Subatomic particles called muons are thought to have streamed through the atmosphere and irradiated megafauna like the monster shark megalodon.

Art for "Why the Best Place to Find Dark Matter May Be in a Rock"
dark matter

Why the Best Place to Find Dark Matter May Be in a Rock

By Rebecca Boyle
January 7, 2019
Read Later

Dark matter may occasionally interact with minerals in the earth, leaving telltale tracks that physicists hope to decipher.

Q&A

The Woman Who Gets Called When a Piece of Mars Falls From the Sky

By Rebecca Boyle
December 18, 2018
Read Later

Planetary geologist Meenakshi Wadhwa uses Martian meteorites to trace the history of our solar system.

geophysics

A Universal Law for the ‘Blood of the Earth’

By Joshua Sokol
November 28, 2018
Read Later

Simple physical principles can be used to describe how rivers grow everywhere from Florida to Mars.


Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
Next

The Quanta Newsletter

Get highlights of the most important news delivered to your email inbox

Recent newsletters


  • About Quanta
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Simons Foundation
All Rights Reserved © 2022