Decreases to our planet’s albedo caused by fewer low-lying clouds helped push temperatures to historic highs in 2023, according to new research.
unsolved mysteries
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Telescopes Catch the Aftermath of an Energetic Planetary Collision
A planetary collision 1,800 light-years away birthed a body that has cooled in unexpected ways.
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Magnetic Meteorites May Explain How the Solar System Assembled
Faint magnetic properties in primitive asteroid fragments suggest an early magnetic field strong enough to shepherd the growth of the outer planets.
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Scientists May Have Found Another Viscosity Shift in the Mantle
The proposed distinction could improve Earth models.
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Pluto’s Small Moons Are Unlike Any Other
The strange blend of surface chemistry on Nix and Hydra raises big question about the evolution of the Pluto system.
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Straightening Out Uranus’s Magnetosphere
New analysis of Voyager 2 observations shows that the craft arrived amid gusty solar wind, muddying our ideas about the giant planet.
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Geoscientists Demystify Baseball’s Magic Mud
Taking baseball’s mysterious Rubbing Mud into the lab revealed no magic ingredients—but plenty of useful natural properties from geomaterials.
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A Close Asteroid Encounter May Have Once Given Earth a Ring
An unusual concentration of impact craters suggests that they may have been caused by the breakup of an asteroid that created a temporary debris ring around Earth.
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Mega El Niño May Have Led to Major Mass Extinction 252 Million Years Ago
The extreme climate conditions wrought by a decades-long ENSO pattern could be the culprit in the Great Dying, which wiped out nearly 90% of life on Earth.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Details About a Very Old Eruption and Flood
One of the most dramatic volcanic eruptions in history occurred more than 1,000 years ago. Scientists are still piecing together the aftermath.