For close to 20 years, slow-motion earthquakes have been an enigma. Core samples provide new clues to their origins.
unsolved mysteries
Edmond Dewan, Citizen Science, and the Mystery of Ball Lightning
In the early 1960s, a physicist enlisted the help of the public to study a rare atmospheric phenomenon.
Does This Fossil Reveal a Jurassic Tropical Freeze?
On view for over a century, a fossil slab may display evidence of tropical freezing during the Jurassic, but scientists never noticed it—until one finally did. Some colleagues are not convinced.
Students Launch Balloon-Borne Payloads into Thunderstorms
The High Energy Lightning Emission Network project hopes to detect elusive bursts of light and particles called terrestrial gamma ray flashes.
Using Garnets to Explore Arc Magma Oxidation
Samples collected from Greece help researchers piece together a scientific puzzle.
Curiosity Rover Reveals Oxygen Mystery in Martian Atmosphere
An air-sampling study has captured long-term trends in the concentrations of five key atmospheric gases for the first time.
Computers Tease Out Secrets of Jupiter’s Aurorae
Aurorae once classified by human eyes are now being sorted by machines. The change may help astronomers understand how the mysterious features are powered.
Explaining the Missing Energy in Mars’s Electrons
Electrons energized and trapped at Mars were thought to lose energy inside the planet’s magnetosheath, but new research suggests a different explanation of spacecraft data.
Brazil’s Oil Spill Is a Mystery, so Scientists Try Oil Forensics
Thousands of barrels of oil have been tarring Brazil’s beaches since September, and no one knows why. An oil spill scientist is running oil forensics to find out.
What Inflates the Solar Bubble? Voyagers Count What’s Missing
The first in situ measurement of the pressure at the edge of the solar system reveals that there’s still a lot we don’t know about what sets the size of the heliosphere.