Nearly three fourths of Earth is covered by oceans, making the planet look like a pale blue dot from space. But Japanese researchers have made a compelling case that Earth’s oceans were once green, in a study published in Nature. The reason Earth’s oceans may have looked different in the ancient past is to do … Read more
For the first time, scientists have observed water molecules splitting in real time to form hydrogen and oxygen. And right before they split, the molecules did something completely unexpected: They flipped 180 degrees. This micro acrobatic stunt takes energy, which offers a crucial explanation for why splitting water takes more energy than theoretical calculations suggested. … Read more
We may have been wrong about how Mars got its characteristic red hue, a new study reveals. The Red Planet owes its ruddy complexion to rusted iron minerals, dispersed across billions of years by winds, throughout the planet’s dust. Past spacecraft observations of Martian dust led scientists to believe that this rust emerged in dry … Read more
Scientists have discovered evidence that liquid water was once exposed to the air in ancient, shallow lakes on Mars. The finding is evidence that not all water on the Red Planet was covered in ice, as some Martian climate models suggest. Planetary geologists and astronomers studying Mars have known for decades that water was once … Read more
Scientists in China have discovered water molecules trapped in lunar rocks, upending past assumptions that the moon’s surface is dry. The rock samples, collected from the moon’s surface and brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e 5 mission in 2020, contain crystals filled with “hydrated molecules,” according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Samples brought … Read more
Scientists have identified a water-loss mechanism on Venus that could explain how the once water-rich world became completely parched. In the newly identified process, linked to a previously overlooked molecule high in Venus’ atmosphere, water escaped Venus at double the rate previously estimated. As faster water loss means less time is needed to boil away … Read more
Water vapor in the stratosphere forms a sponge-like barrier that prevents heat radiating from Earth from escaping out into space. Now, scientists are exploring the plausibility of dehydrating this layer of the atmosphere to cool our warming planet. The stratosphere extends between 7.5 and 31 miles (12 and 50 kilometers) above Earth’s surface and sits … Read more
Chinese researchers may have discovered billions of tons of water inside strange glass spheres buried on the moon, and they could be used as a future water source for moon bases, a new study suggests. The tiny glass spherules, collected in lunar soil samples and brought to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 mission in December 2020, … Read more
Using ultracold temperatures and some steel ball bearings, scientists have created a brand-new, bizarre form of ice that has the same density of liquid water. The ice, known as medium-density amorphous ice, fits into a gap in the annals of frozen water that scientists weren’t sure would ever be filled. Unlike the crystalline ice that … Read more
An ancient meteorite that crash-landed on a U.K. driveway may have solved the mystery of where Earth’s water came from. The 4.6 billion-year-old space rock, which landed in front of a family home in the English town of Winchcombe in February 2021, contains water that closely resembles the chemical composition of water found on Earth … Read more
