Arthropods, with harder bodies and better cognition than some other candidates, seem to be the most likely culprit.
unsolved mysteries
Posted inNews
Chariklo’s Rings Are Evolving
One ring became more opaque, and the other became more translucent. Astronomers don’t know why.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Of Cosmic Rains and Delayed Trains
Scientific detective work corrected the date of an early disruption in telegraph service, solidifying the links between solar weather and technological disturbances.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Roman Telescope Begins Quest to Reveal Evolving Universe
A new era of space exploration began today with the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Did Ocean Motion Carve Enceladus’s Tiger Stripes?
Wobbles of the moon’s icy shell may set off waves in the subsurface ocean that sculpt water-spewing fissures from beneath.
Posted inNews
The Breakup of Gondwana Over 100 Million Years Ago May Be Why Antarctica Has Ice Today
A rift event set off a domino effect of geologic processes that created conditions ripe for Antarctica’s glaciation, a new study suggests.
Posted inNews
Oddball Moon Might Be a Neptune Original After All
Infrared observations of Nereid hint that it might have formed in orbit around Neptune, unlike most of the planet’s other satellites.
Posted inNews
How Einstein’s Lost Theory Could Help Us Find Minerals
New claims challenge inconsistencies in one of the foundational principles of physics. What could this mean for geophysics and Earth science applications?
Posted inNews
A Unique African Volcano Could Solve a Mystery on Mercury
New data from Ol Doinyo Lengai in Tanzania suggest that carbon-rich volcanic activity could be responsible for the mysterious “hollows” observed on the surface of Mercury.