The Earth's magnetic field permanently protects us from the charged particles and radiation that originate in the Sun. This shield is produced by the geodynamo, the rapid motion of huge quantities of liquid iron alloy in the Earth's outer core. To maintain…
A large sinkhole has opened up in Tarpon Springs, Florida on March 30, 2016, forcing the evacuation of nearby residents. This is reportedly a re-opened known sinkhole, located along U.S. 19 at Mango Street. City officials say water and sewer lines have broken at the…
According to a new study led by a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Reseach (NCAR), a distinct pattern of sea surface temperatures in the middle of the North Pacific Ocean can predict an increased chance of summertime heat waves in the eastern half of…
The decline of the 2015-16 El Niño continues in the tropical Pacific, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) reported today. For southern hemisphere winter and spring, climate models suggest neutral and La Niña conditions are equally likely….
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has lost communication with their flagship spacecraft, X-Ray Astronomy Satellite “Hitomi" (ASTRO-H), on March 26, 2016. The 2 700-kg satellite, developed in conjunction with NASA, was launched on February 17…
Astronomers were watching comet Pan-STARRS (P/2016 BA14) on March 22 as it made the third closest-ever comet flyby of Earth in recorded history. At the time of its closest approach, the comet was about 3.6 million km (2.2 million miles) away from the surface of our…
Planetary scientist Matt Siegler at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, and colleagues discovered that Earth's moon slowly moved from its original axis roughly 3 billion years ago. The move would be as if Earth's axis relocated from Antarctica to…
Observers located in the extreme eastern Asia, eastern Australia, the Pacific Ocean and the west coast of North America including Alaska will get to see a penumbral lunar eclipse on March 23, 2016, the first of three lunar eclipses in 2016. The eclipse will reach…
A new map of Mars' gravity was released this month, providing a glimpse into the hidden interior of the planet. The map, most detailed to date, was derived using Doppler and range tracking data collected by NASA's Deep Space Network from three NASA…
Scientists using archived NASA data have discovered a strange new kind of galactic beast in the cosmic wilderness. Dubbed "super spirals," these unprecedented galaxies dwarf our own spiral galaxy, the Milky Way, and compete in size and brightness with the…
