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Writer Fuel: Was the Moon Once a Fiery Hellscape?

Young Earth and Moon - deposit photos

The moon spent a few million years as a volcanic wasteland, covered with ongoing eruptions that spewed from mountains and even from the ground itself. New research suggests that the moon’s orbit could have turned it into a molten monster for a few tens of millions of years. The result may have been comparable to … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Is There a Submerged Ocean on Mars?

Mars - Deposit Photos

There might be a hidden ocean’s worth of liquid water below the surface of Mars, seismic evidence suggests. According to a new paper published April 25 in the journal National Science Review, recordings of seismic waves from deep within the Red Planet indicate that a layer of liquid water may be lurking in the Martian … Read more

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Writer Fuel: We’ve Only Explored a Tiny Fraction of the Deep Ocean

ocean floor - deposit photos

Scientists have revealed how much of the vast deep ocean floor humankind has observed, and it’s a staggeringly small amount. According to a new study published May 7 in the journal Science Advances, just 0.001% of the deep seafloor (anything below 656 feet, or 200 meters) has been explored — despite it covering about two-thirds … Read more

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Writer Fuel: The Gaia Theory – Could a Planet Develop a Brain?

Planet Nine - deposit photos

The idea that Earth may operate as a single, self-regulating, living organism has existed for decades, emerging in the 1970s as the Gaia hypothesis. In this excerpt from “Gaia Wakes: Earth’s Emerging Consciousness in an Age of Environmental Devastation” (Columbia University Press, 2025), economic development and peacebuilding expert Topher McDougal describes how Earth might acquire … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Some People Really Do Only Need Four Hours of Sleep

woman sleeping and dreaming - deposit photos

Some lucky people have rare genetic mutations that enable them to feel well-rested after just four hours of sleep, while the rest of us need around eight hours to function. Now, researchers have identified one of these mutations, named SIK3-N783Y, in a human super-sleeper. The team then studied the mutation in genetically modified mice and … Read more

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Writer Fuel: What Are the Best Plants to Grow After An Apocalypse?

apocalypse - deposit photos

If a global catastrophe suddenly led to a nuclear winter, millions of people could starve. But now, scientists have figured out what crops we would need to grow to sustain a city if such a calamitous event occurred. According to a new study, farming spinach, sugar beets, wheat and carrots in urban and near-urban areas … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Get Ready for the Climate Wars

extreme heat - climate change - deposit photos

Climate change is increasingly recognized not merely as an environmental crisis but as a threat multiplier, worsening political and economic tensions worldwide. Two factors — water scarcity and mass migration — are poised to completely reshape global conflict dynamics. Without coordinated global action, these pressures may induce a vicious circle of interlocking issues: destabilization of … Read more

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Writer Fuel: You Can’t (Really) Burp in Space

Burb - Space station and Earth - deposit photos

Digestive gas gets the best of everyone sooner or later, often in the form of a burp. Burping is how the body clears excess gas from the upper digestive tract, which would otherwise result in extremely uncomfortable pressure in your stomach and esophagus. Or at least that’s how it works on Earth. In space, everything … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Could We Use Technology to Regrow Arctic Sea Ice?

arctic sea ice - deposit photos

In the dim twilight of an Arctic winter’s day, with the low sun stretching its orange fingers across the frozen sea, a group of researchers drill a hole through the ice and insert a hydrogen-powered pump. It looks unremarkable — a piece of pipe protruding from a metal cylinder — but it holds many hopes … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Are Solar Winds Making Water on the Moon?

moon - deposit photos

Constant gusts of particles from the sun may be creating water molecules on the moon, a new NASA-led experiment hints. Scientists have detected traces of water molecules — as well as hydroxyl (OH) molecules, a component of water — on the surface of the moon through multiple space missions. The source of this water has … Read more