A monster black hole

An international team of astronomers has detected a colossal black hole that is 12 billion times more massive than the sun—so big that it is challenging accepted cosmological thinking. Scientists discovered the enormous celestial body, which is 12.8 billion light-years from Earth, at the center of a brilliantly glowing quasar, a cloud of gas that gets superheated and gives off […]

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Humans settled, set fire to Madagascar’s forests 1,000 years ago

There’s no question that our species has had a dramatic impact on the planet’s physical environment, particularly over the last few centuries, with the rise of modern industry, transportation, and infrastructure. But as new research shows, humans have been transforming the landscape, with lasting impacts, since long before the start of the Industrial Era. Scientists from MIT and the University […]

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Ancient Boiling Oceans

In its early days, Earth became hell. About 3.3 billion years ago, new research indicates, at least two massive asteroids 30 to 60 miles in diameter smashed into this planet, boiling the oceans and sending atmospheric temperatures soaring to an unimaginable 932 degrees Fahrenheit. Stanford University scientists have found evidence of this extreme era in a geological formation in South […]

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Nasa: Antarctic ice-shelf will be gone by 2020

According to a new study by Nasa, Antarctica’s Larsen B ice-shelf is on course to completely disintegrate within the next five years. Studies show that the 10,000-year-old ice shelf, after partially collapsing in 2002, is “quickly weakening.” “These are warning signs that the remnant is disintegrating,” said Ala Khazendar of Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. “Although it’s […]

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You Can Get an Antarctica World Passport

Antarctica World Passport

You might not be a resident of Antarctica, but “no biggie”, say artists Lucy and George Orta. They’re giving out Antarctica passports, anyway. You can apply for an Antarctica passport online through the Antarctica World Passport program. In 1959 the Antarctic Treaty stipulated that the southernmost continent “shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become […]

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Lake Vostok and the Search for Life

Lake Vostok

Deep beneath Antarctica’s thick ice sheet, hidden from sunlight for millions of years, lies Lake Vostok – one of the most mysterious and scientifically intriguing places on Earth. This sub-glacial lake, buried under more than two miles of ice, could hold vital clues about life’s ability to exist in extreme environments, including the possibility of extraterrestrial organisms on icy moons […]

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