According to Peter Ward's "Medea hypothesis," photosynthesizing organisms regularly doom most life on Earth by over-consuming carbon dioxide.
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There are so many problems, all across planet Earth, that harm and threaten humanity. Why invest in researching the Universe?
Each of our three nearest stars might have an Earth-like planet in orbit around it. Here's what we'll learn when we finally observe it.
For thousands of years, we puzzled at how far away the Moon was. Today we know its distance, at any time, to within millimeters.
Each year in mid-August, Earth plows through the debris stream of an enormous comet, creating the Perseids. 2023's show will be magnificent!
From how life emerged on Earth to why we dream, these unanswered questions continue to perplex scientists.
Origin of life studies have always focused on a set of strict environments that could give rise to life. Ante-life opens new possibilities.
Chemical changes inside Mars' core caused it to lose its magnetic field. This, in turn, caused it to lose its oceans. But how?
Some fascinating observations of K2-18b have come along with horrendous, speculative communications. There's no evidence for oceans or life.
Planets can be Earth-like or Neptune-like, but only rarely are in between. This hot, Saturn-like planet hints at a solution to this puzzle.
Well-preserved ancient plants and other finds at the Clarkia fossil beds hint at what kind of evidence any Martian life may have left behind.
There's an entire Universe out there. So, with all that space, all those planets, and all those chances at life, why do we all live here?
Scientists may have detected the somewhat smelly chemical dimethyl sulfide on a planet 120 light-years from Earth.
As the Earth spins and wobbles on its axis and revolves elliptically around the Sun, each day changes from the last. "24 hours" isn't right.
In 1957, humanity launched our first satellite; today's number is nearly 10,000, with 500,000+ more planned. Space is no longer pristine.
Total eclipses are a product of a strange and almost eerie cosmic coincidence — one that makes Earth an even rarer world in the galaxy and, by proxy, in the Universe.
"I hope we take a mindset where we are willing to look for weird life in weird places."
With the invention of the leap year, the Julian calendar was used worldwide for over 1500 years. Over time, it led only to catastrophe.
With such a vast Universe and raw ingredients that seem to be everywhere, could it really be possible that humanity is truly alone?
Perhaps we should be searching for “other Mercurys” rather than “other Earths.”
Looking at our planet with post-Copernican eyes has the power to change how we relate to it and each other.
McDermitt Caldera, the site of an ancient volcanic eruption, straddles the border of Oregon and Nevada.
Finding this missing piece of water’s path through the universe offers clues to how it came to be on Earth.
Based on data since 2000 alone, global warming is still occurring at a whopping 7-sigma significance. How hot will planet Earth get?
From here on Earth, looking farther away in space means looking farther back in time. So what are distant Earth-watchers seeing right now?
Within the next few decades, we may well have hard evidence for the existence of alien life on worlds light-years distant from Earth.
Volcanologists warn that magma-filled vents evolve over time, leading to an underestimation of the number that might erupt — especially those capable of the biggest explosions
Space weather poses a tremendous threat to all satellites, knocking all computer systems offline. Is that a recipe for Kessler syndrome?
Each December, the Geminid meteor shower puts on a show for skywatchers across Earth. With a new Moon at 2023's peak, it'll be outstanding!