Scientists are investigating evidence of ancient terrestrial microbes preserved in Australia as well as mineral maps derived from Mars orbiter data to shed light on how to search for life on Mars.
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Remaking a Planet One Atom at a Time
When is a planet not a planet? Where does helium rain? How can water be solid and liquid at the same time? For answers, scientists put common planetary materials under extreme pressure and watched what happened next.
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Earth’s Core Is in the Hot Seat
How old is Earth’s inner core? High-pressure and high-temperature experiments suggest that our planet’s inner furnace may be much younger than expected.
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Reflecting on a Half Century of Mineral and Rock Physics at AGU
Research fields focused on the physical properties of Earth materials emerged in the 20th century and have been making major contributions within geoscience ever since.
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Deepwater Horizon: La Plataforma Petrolera y el Surgimiento de las Técnicas Ómicas
Las técnicas de genómica microbiana llegaron a su madurez después del derrame de Deepwater Horizon, ofreciendo a los investigadores una visión incomparable de cómo los ecosistemas responden a tales desastres ambientales.
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Visualizing Science: How Color Determines What We See
Color plays a major role in the analysis and communication of scientific information. New tools are helping to improve how color can be applied more accurately and effectively to data.
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Studying Earth’s Double Electrical Heartbeat
Charged by thunderstorms and other weather phenomena, the global electrical circuit connects the entire planet.
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Why Sunlight Matters for Marine Oil Spills
A decade of research since the Deepwater Horizon disaster has revealed how sunlight—its importance long understated in oil spill science—substantially alters petroleum floating at the sea surface.
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Lessons from a Post-Eruption Landscape
Four decades of research into biophysical responses to the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens have vastly improved our understanding of how landscapes react to cataclysmic disturbances.
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Planetary Lightning: Same Physics, Distant Worlds
Lightning on Earth needs just a few simple ingredients to generate a spark. Those ingredients exist throughout the solar system and beyond.