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Earth Science

This year's science left us speechless and maybe a tiny bit more knowledgeable.

The Top 9 Baffling, Humbling, Mind-Blowing Science Stories of 2016

From gravity’s song to the evolutionary secrets of dogs, this year unlocked a treasure trove of scientific discovery

Cool Finds

Check Out NASA’s Picks for This Year’s Best Images of Earth

From sunsets to city lights, the images capture the beauty of our ever-changing planet

Barbara Sherwood Lollar sampling dissolved hydrogen and sulfate found in the oldest-known pool of water.

New Research

Scientists Discover the Oldest-known Pool of Water

But you wouldn’t want to drink from it

Ahead of her time: Foote first identified the greenhouse effect, now a seminal concept in climate science.

This Suffrage-Supporting Scientist Defined the Greenhouse Effect But Didn’t Get the Credit, Because Sexism

Eunice Foote’s career highlights the subtle forms of discrimination that have kept women on the sidelines of science

Two trainees work on repairs.

How to Experience a Mission to Mars (If You Still Want to Come Back)

Space Camp for adults? It’s definitely a thing

The Best Books About Science of 2016

Take a journey to the edge of human knowledge and beyond with one of these mind-boggling page-turners

A middle school devastated by the 1933 Long Beach earthquake

New Research

Oil Drilling Could Be to Blame for Devastating 1933 California Quake and Others

Human-induced earthquakes could be much older than once thought

Griffon Vultures Depend on the Sun to Fly. Why?

The Griffon vulture is one of the largest vulture species. Because of its giant stature, it uses an immense amount of energy to take off

New Research

Scientists Just Discovered a Missing Link Between San Francisco’s Faults

Two of California’s most active fault lines appear to be a 118-mile-long fault instead

Life in the Cosmos

Did a Comet Set Off Global Warming 56 Million Years Ago?

Tiny glass beads found in New Jersey and Bermuda suggest this dramatic warming period began with an impact

Mount Etna, Italy, erupts at night.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Predicting Chaos: New Sensors Sniff Out Volcanic Eruptions Before They Happen

How volcanologists brave lung-singeing fumes to monitor eruptions with cutting-edge sensors

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Journey to the Center of Earth

How Earthquakes and Volcanoes Reveal the Beating Heart of the Planet

The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program has stitched together a visual archive of the world’s earthquakes and volcanoes

One of the largest sprite bursts to ever be caught on camera flashes in the sky over Puerto Rico, October 1, 2016.

Vibrant Lightning Sprites Spark Above Hurricane Matthew

A photographer’s good eye captures an elusive phenomenon

Carmel Johnston (left), crew commander, enjoys her first meal outside the dome.

Space Hub

Astronauts Tell All About Their One Year on “Mars”

In an unprecedented simulation, NASA learned that its astronauts are a bunch of overachievers

Randall Munroe’s xkcd comic tackles a range of popular science topics with an enlightening and humorous approach.

Age of Humans

New xkcd Comic Masterfully Shows How Climate Has Changed Through Time

Scroll through 20,000 years of humorously illustrated climate data

The magnitude 5.8 earthquake that struck Pawnee, Oklahoma, on Sept. 3 is officially the state's largest on record. Geologists believe that activities related to oil and gas extraction in the state have triggered a quake swarm in the seismically active region.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Oklahoma Just Had Its Biggest Quake Ever, and There May Be More to Come

Oklahoma’s recent string of earthquakes are something new for the state

This fossil is really, really old.

Scientists Think They Could Have Found Earth’s Oldest Fossil

Was a young Earth old enough to support life 3.7 billion years ago?

Hutton, as painted by Sir Henry Raeburn in 1776.

Journey to the Center of Earth

The Blasphemous Geologist Who Rocked Our Understanding of Earth’s Age

James Hutton was a leading light of his time, but is rarely talked about today

Maria Zuber, first woman to run a NASA spacecraft mission, says she has a "genetic predilection" to explore space.

Life in the Cosmos

This Scientist Seeks Out the Secret History of Other Worlds

Maria Zuber has spent her career enabling discoveries beyond Earth. She says the best is yet to come

An artist's impression of a planet forming through accretion.

Journey to the Center of Earth

To Uncover Earth’s Origins, Scientists Must Look Beyond It

Missions to study the other planetary bodies in our solar system could help solve the mystery of how our own came to be.

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