Earth Science Archives - Escape Velocity Space News

Topic: Earth Science

Closer Look: Remote sensing our Planet Earth

by Pamela Gay | Apr 8, 2025 | Earth Science, In-depth

We live on a geologically active rocky world that is uniquely shaped by a combination of water-driven weather and complex life. Currently, we are the only world we know of capable of supporting humans without requiring advanced technologies and mitigation against radiation and the certain death of environmental toxins. Understanding our world is a basic need if we want to preserve and protect life, but in many ways, the politics of humans makes studying our world weirdly difficult. Earlier this week, I got a notification from NASA that one of their funding programs had to be canceled because...

Get ad-free podcasts &
exclusive content by
joining our Patreon.

Dear Future Self: Let’s Talk Climate Change

by Pamela Gay | Apr 24, 2024 | Earth Science

Credit: NOAA Recent research published in Science Advances and led by Madalina Vlascenu finds that when it comes to climate change, we can’t scare people straight. Stories of gloom and doom focused on the fate of our world don’t inspire people to change their ways and...

Closer Look: Following the Water Toward Climate Change

by Pamela Gay | Apr 10, 2024 | Earth Science

Image by Etienne Marais from Pixabay I’ve lived in my home for 17 years, which is the longest I’ve ever lived in one place. I like to garden, I participate in outdoor sports that are year-round, and this long-for-me timeline and familiarity with the outdoors means...

Caught on Camera and Apprehended

by Pamela Gay | Feb 21, 2024 | Earth Science, Solar Systems

Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe (center of photo) and Peter Jenniskens (left, kneeling) at the site of the second find of a piece of asteroid 2018 LA recovered in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in central Botswana. Credit: SETI Institute Our Solar System contains a whole lot...

Closer Look: Earth’s Magnetic Field

by Pamela Gay | Dec 27, 2023 | Earth Science

Image by PDPics from Pixabay One of the great myths we learn from TV and books is that you can take a compass and follow it to the North Pole.Folks, I am here to tell you that if you take a compass and follow its pointy little needle, it will take you to Northern...

Closer Look: The Requirements for Life

by Pamela Gay | Dec 20, 2023 | Earth Science, Solar Systems

Hydrothermal-vent chimney. In the center of the photo, you can see the vent fluid which appears like dark smoke due to the high levels of minerals and sulfides contained in the fluid. Look closely, and you will also see the chimney is crawling with Chorocaris shrimp...

Closer Look: Solar Max is Coming in 2025

by Pamela Gay | Dec 13, 2023 | Earth Science, Stars & Nebulae

People in more northern and southern latitudes may have noticed that aurorae are getting more common than we’ve seen in recent years. This is thanks to our Sun’s habit of flipping its magnetic poles every eleven years. As the Sun’s magnetic field becomes quite chaotic...

Harsh environments ok for planets… not for life

by Pamela Gay | Dec 13, 2023 | Earth Science, Solar Systems

Artist's impression of the massive star-forming region, with the planet-forming disk XUE-1 in the foreground. The region is drenched in UV light from massive stars, one of which is visible in the top left corner. The structure near the disk represents the molecules...

Closer Look: Planetary Formation Through the Years

by Pamela Gay | Dec 6, 2023 | Earth Science, Solar Systems

Credit: NASA Sometimes, our place in the universe really messes with our ability to understand the universe. From wanting life to be Earth-like, to wanting alien solar systems to look like our solar system, it turns out our wants can bias how we try to science...

Closer Look: It’s Volcano Time

by Beth Johnson | Nov 29, 2023 | Earth Science

Credit: Berserkur via Wikimedia Commons One of the daily activities that is helping me stay sane is volcano watching. I love volcanoes. I especially enjoy when they erupt in places that have webcams but don’t affect the lives of people. Unfortunately, those are both...

The State of Climate Change

by Pamela Gay | Aug 5, 2023 | Earth Science, In-depth

Extreme Weather. Credit: NOAA As human beings, we have infinite capacity for empathy. We also have the capacity to be blind to what is going on in the world around us. This dichotomy is why some people see the Sarah MacLachlan ASPCA ads and donate, others click to...

Next Entries »