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Geology

Colors on this satellite image show areas where water was detected in ancient pyroclastic flows on the Moon's surface

New Research

Water May Lurk Beneath the Moon’s Surface

The surprising abundance of water could help future lunar settlers survive in the barren landscape

Trending Today

Apollo 11 Moon Rock Bag Sells for $1.8 Million in Controversial Auction

NASA waged an unsuccessful legal battle to retrieve the bag, which contains traces of lunar dust, from a private collection

Coastal regions and islands are vanishing due to a lethal combination of erosion, sea rise and subsidence, or the slow sinking of land over time. The network of 1200 coral islands and atolls that makes up the Maldives in the Indian Ocean is ground zero.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

What Are All The Ways That Land Can Disappear Beneath Your Feet?

From sinkholes to liquefaction, we look at how solid earth can shrink and elude our grasp

Drone image of Shelly Island

Cool Finds

There’s a New Island Off the Coast of North Carolina

“Shelly Island” is a mile long and 300 yards wide, but it’s hard to say how long it’ll be around

Fossils provide potential evidence that ancient life thrived Australia's Dresser Formation, a region composed of 3.5-billion-year-old hot springs.

New Research

Fossils From Ancient Hot Springs Suggest Life May Have Evolved on Land

These 3.5-billion-year-old rocks could vindicate Darwin’s claim that life evolved in “some warm little pond,” and not in the ocean

Blood Falls

New Research

Antarctica’s Blood Falls Helps Unravel the Inner Workings of Glaciers

A new study maps the path of the water that feeds the falls and explores how water can exist under the ice

The surface of mastodon bone showing half impact notch on a segment of femur.

New Research

Remarkable New Evidence for Human Activity in North America 130,000 Years Ago

Researchers say prehistoric mastodon bones bear human-made markings

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

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New Research

Largest-Known Dinosaur Footprint Discovered in Western Australia

The print was among twenty-one types left behind 130 million years ago

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

Mt. Etna spews lava during the early hours of Thursday, March 16, 2017

Trending Today

High-Pressure Pockets Cause Fiery Blast at Mount Etna

Ten people were injured in the surprise blast

Upper Antelope Canyon

Shimmy Through the World’s Most Spectacular Slot Canyons

Where to explore the best of these narrow, water-worn passageways

The Azure Window in better days, 2009

Trending Today

Malta’s Iconic Azure Window Crumbles Into the Sea

The limestone arch on the island of Gozo was expected to stand several more decades, but a vicious storm Wednesday took out the natural wonder

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

Lake Oroville's dam is in danger of breach—but California's drought is still far from over.

Trending Today

Despite Dam Danger, California’s Still In a Drought

Look beneath the surface for an unresolved water crisis

Just around the corner from the Great Barrier Reef, the ocean has been hiding a massive, ancient landslide.

New Research

Scientists Discovered a Gigantic, 300,000-Year-Old Landslide Under the Ocean

Long ago, an almost inconceivable amount of sand shifted, changing the surface of the sea floor

Several views of the beautiful Megistaspis hammondi samples, showing off the intricate details of its undercarriage.

New Research

These Spectacularly Preserved Trilobite Fossils Come Complete With Guts, Gills and Legs

The 478-million-year-old creatures could help explain a series of mysterious fossilized tracks

There are many hurdles to building the proposed border wall. And skimping on any steps means that "big, beautiful" wall won't stand for long.

What Geology Has to Say About Building a 1,000-Mile Border Wall

Compared to erecting a marble palace or high-steepled church, a wall may seem relatively straightforward—it isn’t

Clocking in at 2.4 billion year old, this space rock is unlike the others.

New Research

A Martian Volcano May Have Continuously Erupted for Billions of Years

A space rock found in Northwest Africa provides new clues to volcanic activity on Mars

The walnut-sized stone likely caused back pain, leg pain and difficulty urinating.

New Research

These 12,000-Year-Old Prostate Stones Likely Led to One Prehistoric Man’s Painful Death

The walnut-sized stones were found inside a skeleton buried in modern-day Sudan

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