The Moon was a lot closer to Earth 2.46 billion years ago, and the shorter distance contributed to shorter days.
time
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Using Cell Phones as Space Weather Vanes
Tiny magnetometers have turned your phone into a compass, and new research shows they are sensitive to geomagnetic storms.
Posted inNews
Antarctic Ice Cores Might Be Older Than Dirt
Using cosmogenic nuclide dating, scientists determined a 10-meter core just below the surface to be over a million years old.
Posted inFeatures
Einstein Says: It’s 309.7-Meter O’Clock
Atomic clocks are now so accurate that Earth’s gravity can be seen to slow them down. Geodesy is preparing to use this relativistic effect to measure elevation.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Accounting for the Fact that Snow Falls Slower than Rain
When calibrating satellite observations with ground-based ones, estimated precipitation rates are improved by considering that snow takes longer to fall compared to rain.
Posted inNews
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.
Posted inScience Updates
Universal Units Reflect Their Earthly Origins
On Friday, the kilogram will join its fellow metric units with a definition based on fundamental physical constants, but these units maintain links to their roots in the geosciences.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
One of World’s Oldest Animals Records Ocean Climate Change
Researchers probe millennia-old deep-ocean sponges for links between ocean nutrients and climate.
Posted inAGU News
Villages Must Recalibrate Time to Survive in the Pamir Mountains
Scientists plan projects this year to help a rugged, troubled region of central Asia retune traditional timekeeping methods based on environmental cues in the face of climate change.