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Leap Day: The story behind this quirky calendar event
By Joe Rao last updated
Thursday is Feb. 29 — the bissextle or "leap day," an artifact that dates back to the year 46 B.C. Find out how this calendar oddity came to be.
Gravitational anomalies reveal seamount 3 times the height of world's tallest building
By Harry Baker published
Researchers found and mapped four seamounts in the deep sea off the coast of Peru and Chile. The tallest of these new peaks rises around 1.5 miles above the seafloor.
'Intruder' stars have changed Earth's climate over the eons. Here's how.
By Robert Lea published
Intruding stars may have thrown Earth's orbit off-kilter in the past, causing shifts in our planet's climate, a new study suggests.
'We are approaching the tipping point': Marker for the collapse of key Atlantic current discovered
By Stephanie Pappas published
A vital Atlantic current that includes the Gulf Stream and keeps our climate in check may be giving off a warning sign of collapse.
Our luscious blue Earth used to be a frozen snowball
By Meredith Garofalo published
More than 700 million years ago, our planet would have been unlivable due to an extreme ice age, and Australian geologists have a suggestion as to how this could have happened.
NASA's PACE satellite will study Earth's tiniest mysteries from space: Watch it launch live Feb. 8
By Monisha Ravisetti published
"It's going to teach us about the oceans in the same way that Webb is teaching us about the cosmos."
Major 'magnetic anomaly' discovered deep below New Zealand's Lake Rotorua
By Patrick Pester published
Lake Rotorua, which sits at the heart of a dormant volcano and is the setting for one of New Zealand's most famous Māori love stories, has been mapped in detail for the 1st time.
Lava from Iceland volcano spied from space (satellite photo)
By Samantha Mathewson published
Solidified lava surrounds the small Icelandic town of Grindavík in a new photo from the European Space Agency's Copernicus Sentinel-2, following recent volcanic eruptions.
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