The bright aurorae dancing in the sky are produced by charged particles traveling along the magnetic field lines from tens of planetary radii. By why do aurorae rotate at Saturn but not at Earth?
unsolved mysteries
Posted inEditors' Highlights
What Makes a Terrestrial Gamma-Ray Flash in Thunderclouds?
Two lightning flashes were observed in the same location: One produced a bright gamma-ray flash with about 1000 counts per millisecond, but the other did not.
Posted inScience Updates
Exploring the Unknown of the Ross Sea in Sea Ice–Free Conditions
A team of polar scientists aboard the OGS Explora, cruising in rare ice-free conditions, discovered new evidence of ancient and modern-day ice sheet sensitivity to climatic fluctuations.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Case of the Missing Lunar Heat Flow Data Is Finally Solved
Decades-old data analyzed for the first time suggest that astronauts’ disturbance of the Moon surface increased solar heat intake, warming the ground below.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mysterious Aurora Borealis Feature Explained for the First Time
High-speed particles cause indentations in the magnetopause to form “throat auroras.”
Posted inNews
Fresh Take on a Gold Treasure’s Origins Using Geochemistry
Blending geoscience and archaeology, researchers apply a new technique to pinpoint where ancient and unique gold artifacts were crafted.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Multiple Choices Exist for Changing Ocean Oxygen Concentrations
Widespread declines in ocean oxygen concentrations are now being reported with authors offering quite different explanations. Which ones are correct?
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Shedding Light on the Southern Ocean Carbon Sink
One of the world’s largest carbon sinks is still poorly understood.
Posted inNews
Erasing a Billion Years of Geologic Time Across the Globe
The Great Unconformity—a huge time gap in the rock record—may have been triggered by the uplift of an ancient supercontinent, say researchers using a novel method for dating rocks.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Reckoning with Climate’s Most Challenging Questions
Climate researchers outline a vision for the future of climate observations.