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Earth Science

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Does Earth’s Geomagnetic Field Work?

You asked, we answered

From the Batpod to the Batcomputer, the Caped Crusader's gadgets use up a whole lot of energy and spew a whole lot of carbon. But when it comes to carbon footprints, Gotham's techiest hero has nothing on some of pop culture's other saviors.

Age of Humans

Which of Your Favorite Superheroes Is Destroying the Earth?

Measuring the carbon footprints of your favorite comic book heroes, from Batman to Jessica Jones

The VLF bubble around Earth

New Research

A Human-Made “Bubble” of Radio Waves Could Be Shielding Earth From Radiation

Very Low Frequency radio waves have created a protective bubble around the planet

Footage of the Alarming Moments Before the Everest Avalanche

An earthquake in Nepal fills hikers on Everest with fear. Once the tremors subside, however, a new threat begins to loom on the horizon: an avalanche

This Couple Filmed the Everest Avalanche Coming at Them

A young couple hiking in a Himalayan valley are caught in the middle of an earthquake that sets off a giant avalanche

White Horse Hill, England

Where to See Five of the Planet’s Most Mysterious Geoglyphs

From California to Kazakhstan, these aerial-view anomalies offer a glimpse into the past

Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency photographed the Rocky Mountains from his vantage point in low Earth orbit aboard the International Space Station.

Trending Today

NASA Puts Earth Up for Adoption

Pockmarks, wrinkles, and all

Underground, all these aspen trees share a singular root system.

Where to Hike to (and Through) the World’s Largest Organisms

Some of the largest organisms will surprise you

One of the world's most iconic deserts was once lush and green. What happened?

New Research

What Really Turned the Sahara Desert From a Green Oasis Into a Wasteland?

10,000 years ago, this iconic desert was unrecognizable. A new hypothesis suggests that humans may have tipped the balance

This new map shows Earth's magnetic field from space.

New Research

This Magnetic Map Shows Earth as You’ve Never Seen It Before

Behold a new, super high-res view of Earth’s magnetic field

Kilauea at sunrise: A massive flow streams from a lava tube at the Kamokuna ocean entry.

Evotourism ®

Hawaii’s Must-See Lava Flows Are Home to New, Startling Ecosystems

These stunning volcanoes are creating new islands of evolution

Computer-simulated global view of Venus.

Think Big

The Case for Going to Venus

Sending a probe to Earth’s lifeless twin could help us understand how life rises—and falls—on faraway planets

NOAA weather map for Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Trending Today

Is Winter Storm Stella a “Weather Bomb”?

The storm battering the northeastern U.S. is expected to undergo “bombogenesis.” Just what does that mean?

These tiny filament-like fossils could be the oldest evidence of life on Earth.

New Research

Scientists Think They’ve Found the Oldest Fossil Ever

The controversial claim suggests that microbes lived on Earth half a billion years earlier than thought

Strong atmospheric river events are driving record precipitation across the state of California.

Rivers in the Atmosphere Converge to Give California a Huge Downpour

All aboard the Pineapple Express

The Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario is one of the world's leading long-term experiments tracking the effects of climate change, pollution and other factors on freshwater ecosystems.

Canadian Scientists Explain Exactly How Their Government Silenced Science

It wasn’t just climate research. Rock snot, sharks and polar bears: All were off-limits during the Harper administration

Nuptse with the peak of Mount Everest behind it

New Research

Did an Earthquake Make Mount Everest Shorter? New Expedition Aims to Find Out

India and Nepal both plan to determine if the 2015 earthquake that devastated Nepal caused the world’s highest peak to lose an inch

This Town in Iceland Is a Modern Pompeii

Iceland’s ‘Mountain of Fire’ volcano wreaked havoc with an island and the island fought back

In 300 years of fundamentally altering the Earth and its climate, what have we learned?

Age of Humans

Your Guide to All Things Anthropocene

Documenting an era of manmade change

Trending Today

We Will Have to Endure 2016 One Second Longer Than an Average Year

It’s not giving up the ghost quite yet

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