Hacker News with Generative AI: Earth Science

Can Earth's rotation generate power? Physicists divided over controversial claim (nature.com)
Electricity can be generated from the energy of Earth rotating through its own magnetic field — according to a provocative claim put forward by physicists today.
Physics, Energy, Earth Science, Controversial Claims
104 points by qnleigh 3 days ago | 217 comments
Electric power generation from Earth's rotation through its own magnetic field (arxiv.org)
Earth rotates through the axisymmetric part of its own magnetic field, but a simple proof shows that it is impossible to use this to generate electricity in a conductor rotating with this http URL, we previously identified implicit assumptions underlying this proof and showed theoretically that these could be violated and the proof circumvented.
Physics, Electricity, Magnetism, Earth Science
42 points by PaulHoule 4 days ago | 7 comments
SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) Satellite Maps Seafloor from Space (nasa.gov)
There are better maps of the Moon’s surface than of the bottom of Earth’s ocean.
Space Exploration, Satellite Technology, Oceanography, Mapping, Earth Science
8 points by Brajeshwar 11 days ago | 0 comments
Even the worst mass extinction had its oases (arstechnica.com)
About 252 million years ago, volcanic eruptions triggered the End-Permian Mass Extinction, also known as the Great Dying. About 96 percent of marine species were wiped out—but were things just as grim on land?
Paleontology, Extinction Events, Earth Science, Climate Change
99 points by Hooke 15 days ago | 48 comments
'Dark oxygen': a deep-sea discovery that has split scientists (phys.org)
Could lumpy metallic rocks in the deepest, darkest reaches of the ocean be making oxygen in the absence of sunlight?
Science, Oceanography, Discovery, Earth Science
142 points by pseudolus 17 days ago | 108 comments
Topography and the Terrestrial Water Cycle (eos.org)
The effects of topography on the distribution and movement of water on Earth have been observed throughout history. And while many scientific advances are well-documented, there are no summaries of our current knowledge from a large-scale perspective.
Science, Earth Science, Hydrology, Topography
3 points by bryanrasmussen 17 days ago | 0 comments
Sunset Geometry (2016) (shapeoperator.com)
Robert Vanderbei has written a beautiful series of articles and talks about a method for finding the radius of the earth based on a single photograph of a sunset over a large, calm lake.
Mathematics, Photography, Earth Science
110 points by Tomte 18 days ago | 21 comments
'Microlightning' in mist may have sparked life on Earth, study finds (theguardian.com)
Tiny lightning streaks in fine spray can power chemical reactions that generate molecules for life, scientists say
Science, Earth Science
8 points by sandebert 19 days ago | 2 comments
Los Chocoyos eruption dated to 79,500ya show Earth bounced back within decades (phys.org)
An international team of Earth and life scientists, hydrologists, chemists, and physicists, has found evidence showing that the Los Chocoyos supereruption occurred approximately 79,500 years ago and that the planet bounced back from its chilling effects within decades.
Volcanoes, Earth Science, Climate Change, Geology, Paleontology
3 points by gmays 26 days ago | 2 comments
Forces deep underground seem to be deforming Earth's inner core (newscientist.com)
Earth’s solid inner core appears to have changed shape in the past 20 years or so, according to seismic wave measurements – but the behaviour of these waves could also be explained by other shifts at the centre of the planet.
Earth Science, Geology, Inner Core, Seismic Activity
52 points by walterbell 28 days ago | 21 comments
NASA to launch Earth science smallsat mission on Firefly Alpha – SpaceNews (spacenews.com)
AUSTIN, Texas — NASA selected Firefly Aerospace to launch a trio of Earth science smallsats that will study the formation of storms.
Space Exploration, Earth Science, NASA, Small Satellites
4 points by rbanffy 28 days ago | 0 comments
Scientists match Earth's Ice Age cycles with orbital shifts (news.ucsb.edu)
Beginning around 2.5 million years ago, Earth entered an era marked by successive ice ages and interglacial periods, emerging from the last glaciation around 11,700 years ago. A new analysis suggests the onset of the next ice age could be expected in 10,000 years’ time.
Climate Change, Earth Science, Paleoclimate, Ice Ages, Astronomy
6 points by geox 34 days ago | 0 comments
Dataviz: Wildfires and Climate Change (nasa.gov)
Earth's warming climate is amplifying wildland fire activity, particularly in northern and temperate forests.
Climate Change, Wildfires, Data Visualization, Earth Science
4 points by ohjeez 50 days ago | 0 comments
Increased crevassing across accelerating Greenland Ice Sheet margins (nature.com)
Surface crevassing on the Greenland Ice Sheet is a large source of uncertainty in processes controlling mass loss due to a lack of comprehensive observations of their location and evolution through time.
Greenland, Climate Change, Glaciers, Science, Earth Science
12 points by rntn 51 days ago | 0 comments
Earth's inner core may have changed shape, say scientists (bbc.co.uk)
The inner core of Earth may have changed shape in the past 20 years, according to a group of scientists.
Earth Science, Geology, Research, Inner Core, Planet Earth
52 points by neversaydie 51 days ago | 36 comments
Radiation belts detected around Earth after solar storm (sciencealert.com)
In May 2024, an epic solar storm rattled Earth so powerfully that its effects were felt even at the bottom of the ocean.
Space Weather, Earth Science, Solar Storms
146 points by jandrewrogers 54 days ago | 60 comments
Creation of an Atmosphere for the Moon (1969) (rand.org)
The description of a method for creating a lunar atmosphere similar to that of the earth. If the lunar crust were deliberately and methodically broken, simulating earthquake and volcanic activity on the planets, some of the stored gases and vapors could be released to form a lunar atmosphere.
Space Exploration, Lunar Science, Science Fiction, Earth Science
10 points by appleorchard46 70 days ago | 1 comments
Giant, Mysterious Spires Ruled the Earth Long Before Trees Did (smithsonianmag.com)
When land plants were still the relatively new kids on the evolutionary block and the world’s tallest trees reached only a few feet in height, giant spires of life poked from the Earth.
Paleontology, Earth Science, Ancient Life, Evolution
20 points by Brajeshwar 70 days ago | 4 comments
Earth's magnetic North Pole is on the move, scientists just updated its position (cnn.com)
Earth Science, Geomagnetism, Climate Change
18 points by LinuxBender 71 days ago | 14 comments
The deeper under the Earth's surface, the more species you can find (arstechnica.com)
No matter how deep we dig, we keep finding life.
Biology, Earth Science, Discovery, Scientific Research
46 points by pseudolus 72 days ago | 20 comments
Why did a frozen Earth coincide with an evolutionary spurt? (colorado.edu)
CU Boulder geologists Lizzy Trower and Carl Simpson win $1 million in support from W.M. Keck Foundation to try to solve an evolutionary puzzle and to extend Earth’s temperature record by 2 billion years
Earth Science, Evolution, Geology, Research Funding
4 points by isaacfrond 80 days ago | 3 comments
Climate Models Can't Explain What's Happening to Earth (theatlantic.com)
Fifty years into the project of modeling Earth’s future climate, we still don’t really know what’s coming.
Climate Change, Science, Earth Science, Modeling
8 points by howard941 86 days ago | 2 comments
NASA Is Watching a Growing Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field (sciencealert.com)
NASA has been monitoring a strange anomaly in Earth's magnetic field: a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching out between South America and southwest Africa.
Space Exploration, Earth Science, Magnetic Fields, Geomagnetism
9 points by rayrey 92 days ago | 3 comments
Thermodynamic model identifies how gold reaches Earth's surface (phys.org)
A research team including a University of Michigan scientist has discovered a new gold-sulfur complex that helps researchers understand how gold deposits are formed.
Geology, Chemistry, Gold, Earth Science, Scientific Research
70 points by wglb 97 days ago | 8 comments
Three-quarters of the land is drying out, 'redefining life on Earth' (grist.org)
As Earth grows warmer, its ground is becoming drier and saltier, with profound consequences for the planet’s 8 billion inhabitants — nearly a third of whom already live in places where water is increasingly scarce and the ability to raise crops and livestock is increasingly difficult.
Climate Change, Water Scarcity, Agriculture, Environmental Impacts, Earth Science
146 points by rntn 98 days ago | 105 comments
Earth's subsurface may hold up to 5.6 × 10⁶ million metric tons of hydrogen (phys.org)
A pair of geologists with the U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, has created a model that shows Earth's subsurface may hold up to 5.6 × 106 million metric tons of natural hydrogen.
Earth Science, Geology, Natural Resources
57 points by wglb 100 days ago | 71 comments
Tiny Black Holes Could Have Left Tunnels Inside Earth's Rocks (gizmodo.com)
A pair of imaginative cosmologists have great news for everyone: If a primordial black hole tunnels through your body, you probably won’t die.
Black Holes, Physics, Earth Science, Cosmology
24 points by rbanffy 108 days ago | 11 comments
Searching for small primordial black holes in planets, asteroids, here on Earth (sciencedirect.com)
Small primordial black holes could be captured by rocky planets or asteroids, consume their liquid cores from inside and leave hollow structures.
Black Holes, Astronomy, Earth Science, Planets, Asteroids
10 points by rntn 108 days ago | 5 comments
GPS constellation as a way to image the ionosphere (2011) (blogspot.com)
GPS, Ionosphere, Space, Technology, Earth Science
29 points by pizza 116 days ago | 4 comments
Bacterial World (ox.ac.uk)
Bacteria survive, thrive, fight and die by the trillion every moment. They swim using nanoscopic motors, and battle with spears. They sense, communicate, remember. And as scientists discover more about these tiny organisms, it is becoming clear that bacteria wield huge influence over us, shaping Earth’s past, our present and the future for us all. We have only recently realised how much our lives are inextricably linked with the lives of bacteria. We really are living in a bacterial world.
Microbiology, Science, Biology, Earth Science
22 points by tobr 119 days ago | 6 comments