Jupiter’s moon Io is known for its lava fountains and roiling lava lakes, but scientists had never seen such an intense eruption in their data until now.

JoAnna Wendel
JoAnna Wendel is a freelance science writer and cartoonist. She covers topics ranging from the geology of faraway moons to the behavior of animals in our oceans. She served as a staff writer for Eos from 2014 to 2018, then worked in communications in NASA’s Planetary Sciences Division. JoAnna is now freelancing full time as a writer and artist.
Sketch Your Science: Our Guesses About Your Sketches
Eos staff do their best to guess what scientists were drawing on the Sketch Your Science wall at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in New Orleans, La.
Hurricanes Expose Vulnerabilities in Puerto Rico Seismic Network
Could overreliance on cell networks to transmit data leave instruments in the dark after the next storm hits?
Dan Rather’s Vision for Scientists in an Era of “Fake News”
Scientists must embrace communication, and communicators must work harder to tell more nuanced and compelling science stories, the newsman said to an auditorium full of scientists.
Science at the Border Between Ice and Ocean
A suite of instruments, including drones, remotely operated boats, and multibeam sonar, is helping scientists understand a little-studied area at the front of a calving glacier.
Four Planetary Landscapes That Scientists Can’t Explain
These are just a handful of the hundreds of mysterious features across our solar neighborhood that beg to be studied closer.
Hunting Rare Fossils of the Ediacaran
The search for fossil imprints and casts of squishy organisms takes time, perseverance, and sometimes a sprinkle of luck.
Volcanic Woes May Have Contributed to Ancient Egypt’s Fall
Ice cores and ancient river records suggest that volcanic eruptions may have reduced the flow of the Nile River. Failures of the Nile floods that usually irrigated Egypt’s farms could have fed social unrest.
Geologic Map of Europa Highlights Targets for Future Exploration
The first such map of the icy moon puts its strange surface features into perspective.
Ten Mesmerizing Geophysical Maps That Double as Works of Art
From tiny seafloor features in the Gulf of Mexico to craters pocking the surface of Mars, the details on these maps captivate and fascinate.