Earth – latest in science and technology | New Scientist


Negatives saved from Shackleton’s Antarctic trip reveal hidden details

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Frank Hurley rescued hundreds of photo negatives from the Endurance when it sank off Antarctica in 1915. Now a book of his surviving images casts new light on the fateful expedition


A volcano has erupted remnants of Earth’s primordial magma ocean

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 14:13:44 +0000

Earth was once covered by a global magma ocean, which later cooled and crystallised – now traces of this primordial event have been found in magma from a young volcano in the Indian Ocean


Huge crater in Australia may be the oldest impact structure on Earth

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 22:00:24 +0000

A study claims that the North Pole Dome crater in Western Australia was caused by an asteroid strike 3 billion years ago, but other researchers dispute the proposed age


Almost the whole of Japan moved eastward after 2011 earthquake

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:00:18 +0000

An extremely unusual tectonic movement took place 15 minutes after the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, causing almost the whole of Japan to move 5 millimetres to the east


What lies beneath? The new era of Earth imaging

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 08:18:37 +0000

What happens when geophysicists, mathematicians and computer scientists collaborate to solve the planet's most complex subsurface challenges? Meet the innovators driving a revolution in how we see the Earth.


Dinosaur-killing asteroid impact site stayed hot for millions of years

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:01:59 +0000

Drill cores at the impact site of the Chicxulub asteroid show evidence that, alongside widespread destruction, the collision created a vast underground ecosystem filled with hot water that sheltered microbial life


Earth has a mysterious triple symmetry that may influence its climate

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:00:31 +0000

A circle running along the 27° east and 153° west meridians divides the globe into two halves with equal reflectivity – and this may have implications for solar geoengineering schemes


Hidden store of manganese may have helped Earth get its oxygen

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:00:23 +0000

Computer simulations have uncovered a new manganese compound that could exist deep in Earth’s mantle and may be connected to the process that gave our atmosphere oxygen


A new tectonic plate boundary could be forming in southern Africa

Tue, 12 May 2026 04:00:17 +0000

Gases collected from boiling mineral springs in Zambia contain the chemical signature of having come directly from the Earth’s mantle, a sign of a rupture in the tectonic plates and the possible beginning of a new continental boundary


Giant Arctic continent launched dinosaurs to world domination

Mon, 27 Apr 2026 11:00:57 +0000

Coincident with the rise of the dinosaurs, a large landmass filled most of the Arctic circle, potentially contributing to global cooling that advantaged the famous reptiles