Page 122 - Planetary Sciences News Today

On the eve of the Grammy Awards, learn how scientists sing the praises of their favorite musical artists in the names of ants, snakes, flies and more

Drought might have played a major role in the abandonment of the Eastern Settlement of Vikings around 1450, new research finds.

Understanding the relationship between Mars’ climate and its axial tilt and orbit around the sun is one of the most important goals of Mars science. Most past studies toward this goal have studied the polar ice caps: huge sheets of water ice at the north and south pole. To gain more insight, a team of researchers, led by Michael Sori of Purdue University, have, instead, studied smaller ice deposits (only tens of kilometers in diameter) near the north and south pole but separate from the larger...

Understanding the relationship between Mars’ climate and its axial tilt and orbit around the sun is one of the most important goals of Mars science. Most past studies toward this goal have studied the polar ice caps: huge sheets of water ice at the north and south pole.

Brandon Johnson, an expert in impact crater dynamics, surrounded by some of his favorite research subjects: Mercury, Mars and the moon.

Two finalist proposals for the MIT Climate Grand Challenges use a drone to monitor glaciers and ice sheets over long periods to build better models of sea-level rise to help with climate preparation and mitigation.

Researchers have used fragments of ancient collisions to find that early asteroid bombardment may have delayed the growth of oxygen on Earth.

News items for the local area

The lithosphere is Earths outermost layer, composed of the crust and the upper part of the mantle. The layer is divided into chunks called tectonic plates.

Scientists at the University of New Mexico are modeling water in deep Earth using the mineral wadsleyite to determine composition and temperature variations in an effort to decipher the material exchange processes between the upper and lower mantle. The...