By studying these literal chunks of Mars, scientists are learning more about the Red Planet’s deep interior and impact history.
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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The “Black Gold” Flowing Under Los Angeles
Functioning oil fields, some with cleverly camouflaged infrastructure, are tucked into the urban sprawl of the Los Angeles basin. But recent legislation could change that.
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Rare Meteorites Shed Light on Diamond Formation
By studying meteorites believed to be remnants of the catastrophic breakup of a dwarf planet, researchers are learning how lonsdaleite, a particularly hard type of diamond, forms in nature.
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Impact Crater off the African Coast May Be Linked to Chicxulub
The underwater crater, spotted serendipitously in commercial observations of seafloor sediments, is believed to have formed at roughly the same time as the famous Cretaceous-Paleogene impact event.
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Alaskan Glaciers Advance and Retreat in Satellite Imagery
Researchers tracked 19 maritime glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park over several decades and found that tidewater glaciers tended to experience less ice loss than other types of glaciers.
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Volcanic Winters Ushered in the Jurassic Reign of the Dinosaurs
Sediment cores from northwestern China reveal freezing conditions during the Late Triassic killed off many forms of life—but not dinosaurs.
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Community Scientists Recover Micrometeorites from Lake Michigan
A team of scientists, educators, and teenagers discovered the objects, some of which may have been delivered by a fireball that streaked across the sky in 2017.
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Precession Helped Drive Glacial Cycles in the Pleistocene
By studying bits of rock scooped up by ancient glaciers, researchers have pinned down that recent glacial variability was driven, in part, by changes in the direction of Earth’s axis of rotation.
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Zhurong Rover Spots Evidence of Recent Liquid Water on Mars
The Chinese rover identified hydrated minerals—likely associated with groundwater—in sediments dating to the Red Planet’s most recent geologic period.
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Chinese-Led Solar Research Is Looking Bright
With new missions underway and planned, China is stepping up to observe our nearest stellar neighbor.