Earth

Earth, our home planet, is the 3rd planet from the sun.

Related Topics: Mars, The Moon, Venus, We Don't Planet, Neptune 

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching

Rocket exhaust pollution in the upper atmosphere might affect Earth's climate

By Stefanie Waldek published

A new study reveals how air pollution from rocket launches spreads in Earth's atmosphere.

Southern Cross constellation in the night’s sky.

Beyond angry protesters and inked arms, there's this First Nations story of the Southern Cross — one of unity and belonging

By Samuel Curkpatrick, Sarah Bacaller, Wanta Jampijinpa Pawu published

A racist usage of the Southern Cross contrasts with Indigenous narratives about the constellation, suggesting the symbol can never be contained within a single defining narrative.

A timelapse view of the ionosphere from the International Space Station, with city lights shining below.

DARPA launches 'Ouija' project to study radio signals in Earth's atmosphere with satellites

By Elizabeth Howell published

The U.S. military plans to launch satellites to learn more about how radio signals behave in part of the Earth's atmosphere.

An video sequence of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai explosion captured by the GOES-17 satellite.

Huge Tonga volcanic eruption spawned record-breaking winds at the edge of space

By Tereza Pultarova published

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcanic eruption in January triggered stronger-than-hurricane winds in the highest layer of Earth's atmosphere, above the edge of space.

Maxar Technologies' GeoEye-1 satellite captured this view of a sunken Russian ship just off the coast of Snake Island on May 12, 2022.

Satellite spies sunken Russian ship off Ukraine's wartorn Snake Island (photos)

By Mike Wall published

Tiny Snake Island has hosted some fierce fighting during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as new satellite photos show.

This satellite image shows a natural color view of wildfires raging at Hermit's Peak (near Las Vegas) on May 12, 2022.

Satellites watch devastating fires blaze across northern New Mexico

By Elizabeth Howell published

Devastating wildfires in New Mexico fueled by high winds are visible from space.

Researchers from Arizona State University studied an area called the Samail Ophiolite, off the coast of Oman.

Microbes on Earth's seafloor may aid the search for alien life

By Samantha Mathewson published

Microorganisms living on a large slab of ancient seafloor in the Persian Gulf may reveal clues about life on other planets.

Sir David Attenborough holds an ammonite as a CGI pterosaur and T. rex loom behind him, with an asteroid streaking across the sky.

Cretaceous asteroid armageddon ignites TV screens in 'Dinosaur Apocalypse'

By Patrick Pester published

'Dinosaur Apocalypse,' a PBS NOVA special narrated by Sir David Attenborough, attempts to reconstruct the day Earth was hit by an asteroid 66 million years ago.

The Space Energy Initiative is exploring a concept for a space-based solar power plant called Cassiopeia.

A solar power plant in space? The UK wants to build one by 2035.

By Tereza Pultarova published

The U.K. is getting serious about beaming solar power from space and thinks it could have a demonstrator in orbit by 2035.

Artist's illustration of how climate change is affecting Earth. The image shows a hot Earth with smaller oceans and drier land.

Climate change: Causes and effects

By Chelsea Gohd published

Reference Climate change is the long-term, continued shifting of temperatures and weather patterns on planet Earth; an evolution driven by human activities.

Moving heavy industrial activities off Earth could help solve some of our planets' problems, some experts say.

Mining the moon to help save life on Earth (op-ed)

By Lewis Pinault published

We can end the current fossil fuel war, by providing abundant resources and clean energy from the moon to Earth, and by moving our toxic industries away from our unique and precious biosphere.

The word Go appears in clouds near Chile as seen by a satellite in space.

Earth tells us to 'GO' in weird cloud message seen from space (photo)

By Tariq Malik published

A surprising new photo from the GOES East satellite has revealed what appears to be the word "Go" written in the clouds as seen from space.

This natural-color image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captures large plumes of smoke billowing over Las Vegas and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Satellites watch record-breaking fires ravage New Mexico

By Samantha Mathewson published

Satellites have captured stunning new views of the early season wildfires raging across northern New Mexico since mid-April.

A recent study found that the worst heatwaves in known history took place decades ago.

Earth's worst heat waves of recent decades didn't happen when you think they did

By Tereza Pultarova published

Despite the increasing focus on climate change and its disastrous effects on weather patterns, a recent study has found that the worst heat waves in known history actually took place decades ago.

For the first time ever, scientists measured cow burps from space.

Cow burps measured from space, revealing contribution to climate change

By Chelsea Gohd published

For the first time ever, scientists have measured cow burps from space.

A red-gold colored zircon crystal.

Oldest evidence of tectonic plates unearthed, sealed in ancient crystals

By Tia Ghose published

The oldest evidence of tectonic plates are sealed in ancient crystals

This photo, taken by Maxar Technologies' WorldView-2 satellite, shows missiles being loaded onto a Russian Kilo-class submarine (center, to left of tall yellow tower) in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol on April 29, 2022.

Satellite photos show missiles being loaded onto Russian submarine. Dolphin pens, too.

By Mike Wall published

Maxar Technologies' WorldView-2 spacecraft spotted what appear to be Kalibr missiles sitting next to a docked Kilo-class submarine in Sevastopol, an important Black Sea port in the Crimean Peninsula.

A view of Half Moon Island and Bransfield Strait in Antarctica.

Underwater volcano in Antarctica triggers 85,000 earthquakes

By Tia Ghose published

The swarm of 85,000 earthquakes that struck Antarctica was the strongest seismic outburst ever recorded there.

Japan's Hayabusa 2 spacecraft will launch in 2014 on a mission to rendezvous with the asteroid 1999 JU3 in 2018 and return samples of the space rock to Earth in 2020.

Japan's asteroid samples faced surprise challenges on Earth: A pandemic, traffic jams and airport security

By Meghan Bartels published

Collecting rocks from an asteroid is rocket science; getting them to the lab is another story.

Space Forge plans to launch its first in-orbit manufacturing demonstrator from Cornwall, the UK, with Virgin Orbit.

In-space manufacturing could help humanity fight climate change, startup says

By Tereza Pultarova published

"Earth is an incredible place to live, but it's a terrible place to build."