Researchers discover microbial life on ice spires known as penitentes on the arid, sunlight-blasted upper reaches of Llullaillaco, one of the best earthly analogues for Mars.
Katherine Kornei
Katherine Kornei is a freelance science journalist covering Earth and space science. Her bylines frequently appear in Eos, Science, and The New York Times. Katherine holds a Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Los Angeles.
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Meteotsunami Spotted for the First Time in the Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, a region with high-end resorts and oil-related infrastructure dotting its shorelines, was hit in 2017 by weather-induced waves that rolled roughly a kilometer inland.
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Satellite Data Reveal Growth and Decline of Sargassum
High nutrient levels in 2018 resulted in a nearly 9,000-kilometer belt of Sargassum, a seaweed critical to many marine animals but also a nuisance when it washes up on shorelines, new results reveal.
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Algorithm Spots Climate-Altering Ship Tracks in Satellite Data
Tens of thousands of ship tracks—cloud structures created when ships’ exhaust plumes interact with the atmosphere—are pinpointed automatically, furthering study of these climate-altering features.
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Giant Planets and Brown Dwarfs Form in Different Ways
Once thought to be part of the same population, planets larger than Jupiter and “failed stars” likely grow via different mechanisms, the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey has shown.
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Mmm, Salt—Europa’s Hidden Ocean May Contain the Table Variety
Hubble Space Telescope observations suggest that sodium chloride exists in young, geologically active regions on Europa, likely fed by upwelling from the moon’s subsurface ocean.
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Microbes Spotted in “Polyextreme” Hot Springs
Hot springs that are as acidic as battery acid are home to single-celled microorganisms that may indicate that life could have been sustained on ancient Mars.
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Ultraprecise Clock Will Facilitate Space Exploration
NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock, slated to launch later this month for a demonstration flight, will help spacecraft more efficiently navigate the solar system.
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Ceramics Trace a 14th Century Indonesian Tsunami
Archaeological evidence suggests that communities on the northern coast of Sumatra devastated by a tsunami roughly 600 years ago opted to rebuild in the same area, a process repeated in 2004.
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Many Water Cycle Diagrams Promote Misconceptions
Most representations of the water cycle are flawed, researchers found by analyzing over 450 diagrams: The effects of humans, seasonal changes, and different biomes are often neglected.