Microbial mats in a Lake Huron sinkhole, combined with modeling work, suggest that the changing length of Earth’s day could have played a key role in oxygenating the atmosphere.
Damond Benningfield
Damond Benningfield is a freelance science writer and audio producer in Austin, Texas. Among other projects, he writes and produces StarDate, a daily radio program about astronomy and space exploration, and Science and the Sea, a weekly program about marine science. He has been involved with several other short-format radio programs. Benningfield, a native of Austin, also serves as executive editor of StarDate magazine. He has contributed to almost 50 magazines, newspapers, and websites, including Air & Space/Smithsonian, Smithsonian, and Astronomy. He has a bachelor of journalism degree from The University of Texas at Austin.
Posted inGeoFIZZ
Oddballs of the Exoplanet Realm
The list of planets in other star systems includes zombies, hot giants, puffballs, and even a few Tatooines. Zowie!
Posted inFeatures
Exoplanets in the Shadows
The bright clutter of individual discoveries can overshadow some fascinating research, from necroplanetology to rogue planets to the intimacy of alphanumeric nomenclature.
Posted inNews
Heating Up the Hot Spots
Climate change is affecting American military operations and infrastructure—and could have security implications across the globe.
Posted inNews
Making the Universe Blurrier
Climate change appears to be directly and indirectly affecting the view from at least one observatory while threatening the existence of others.
Posted inNews
Flying Saucers Could One Day Probe the Mesosphere
Researchers have created thin, levitating disks that could be used to study the mesosphere, a layer of Earth’s atmosphere that’s difficult to reach with conventional flyers.
Posted inNews
A Bad Time for Mars Time
Thanks to COVID-19, mission control for the Perseverance Mars rover will look emptier than previous missions, and fewer scientists and engineers will follow the rover’s schedule.
Posted inNews
Seeing Stripes in the Atmosphere of a Brown Dwarf
A planet-hunting satellite’s observations of the nearby system Luhman 16 AB reveal bands of clouds, high-speed jets, and polar vortices.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
A Better Understanding of How the Sun Bends Light
Incorporating the refractive index of the Sun into models of gravitational lensing effects improves agreement with measurements of the phenomenon.
Posted inNews
Bringing Clarity to Magnetic Reconnection
A particle-level process appears to play a key role in planet-sized events throughout the universe.