Apparently even NASA is wrong about which planet is closest to Earth

Three scientists publish a paper proving that Mercury, not Venus, is the closest planet to Earth.

www.youtube.com
  • Earth is the third planet from the Sun, so our closest neighbor must be planet two or four, right?
  • Wrong! Neither Venus nor Mars is the right answer.
  • Three scientists ran the numbers. In this YouTube video, one of them explains why our nearest neighbor is... Mercury!
Keep reading Show less
mercury distance space science astrophysics planets earth astronomy physics map sun cosmos strange maps

Earth at 2°C hotter will be horrific. Now here’s what 4°C will look like.

This is what the world will be like if we do not act on climate change.

content.jwplatform.com
  • The best-case scenario of climate change is that world gets just 2°C hotter, which scientists call the "threshold of catastrophe".
  • Why is that the good news? Because if humans don't change course now, the planet is on a trajectory to reach 4°C at the end of this century, which would bring $600 trillion in global climate damages, double the warfare, and a refugee crisis 100x worse than the Syrian exodus.
  • David Wallace-Wells explains what would happen at an 8°C and even 13°C increase. These predictions are horrifying, but should not scare us into complacency. "It should make us focus on them more intently," he says.
Keep reading Show less
climate change earth future science war refugees natural disaster fear death

Earth’s rotation wobbles. NASA says humans partly to blame.

NASA scientists have discovered three factors that influence Earth's rotational wobble. Thankfully, while the Earth may wobble, it won't fall down.

Photo by NASA/Apollo 17 Crew
  • Despite what your classroom globe taught you, Earth is neither a perfect sphere nor does it rotate resolutely along its axis.
  • Scientists originally thought glacial rebound was responsible for Earth's polar motion, but a new study argues that mantle convection and contemporary ice mass loss share the blame.
  • The study's authors note that this new understanding of axial spin provides another link between ice melt and rising sea levels, allowing us to more accurately model global climate change.
Keep reading Show less
nasa earth rotation climate change space geology earth

To save ourselves, half of Earth needs to be given to animals

We're more dependent on them than we realize.

(Photo Lily on Unsplash)
  • Scientists says our survival depends on biodiversity.
  • A natural climate strategy we often forget.
  • Seeing our place among Earth's living creatures.
Keep reading Show less
environment news life earth newscientist.com animals biodiversity human food supply habitat loss human extinction

Best Job Ever? NASA Is Hiring Someone to Defend Earth from Aliens

Greatest job ever? NASA will pay six-figures to a Planetary Protection Officer.

Men in Black

Keep reading Show less
NASA planetary protection officer alien extraterrestrial space cosmos job opening hiring Earth science bacteria