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When did plate tectonics begin?Earth surface is covered with rigid plates that move, crash into each other and dive into the planet's interior. But when did this process begin?
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A meteorite 100 times bigger than the dinosaur-killing space rock may have nourished early microbial lifeOn a young Earth, giant meteors might have been a harbinger of life, not death.
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Father-daughter team decodes 'alien signal' from Mars that stumped the world for a yearA father and daughter team based in the U.S. have decoded a mock "alien signal" beamed from ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter a year ago — but the meaning of the extraterrestrial message remains a mystery.
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Earth's mantle is split into two halves thanks to supercontinent PangaeaThe mantle is split up into two domains — the African and the Pacific — that emerged when supercontinent Pangaea broke apart.
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Astronauts to grow livers in space, where microgravity might help them thriveResearchers think that microgravity could help grow liver "organoids" that could be used in medical research and even in transplant surgeries, someday.
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Mysterious 'blobs' in Earth's mantle are not what we thought, study claimsLava that erupts from hotspots around the world seems to come from a similar ancestral magma, new research finds.
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Earth's crust may be building mountains by dripping into the mantleAn odd phenomenon called lithospheric dripping might occur wherever mountains form.
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How strong can hurricanes get?There's a theoretical limit to the maximum sustained wind speeds of hurricanes, but climate change may increase that "speed limit."
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Scientists restore monkey's vision with a patch made from human stem cellsScientists were able to treat a "macular hole" in a monkey, helping to restore the animal's vision thanks to human stem cells.
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Earth's outer core may hold a hidden 'doughnut'A newly discovered doughnut shape in Earth's outer core may reveal elements that help drive the formation of the planet's magnetic field.
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21 of the best conspiracy theoriesConspiracy theories that have taken hold range from a faked moon landing to Barack Obama's birthplace to chemtrails.
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Ancient relative of 'living fossil' fish reveals that geological activity supercharges evolutionThe ancient coelacanth, which has existed for some 419 million years, never stopped evolving despite its reputation as a "living fossil." A new discovery reveals that it evolved faster when plate tectonics were most active.
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'Mega' El Niño may have fueled Earth's biggest mass extinctionVolcanoes spewing carbon dioxide 250 million years ago heated the climate so much that extreme El Niño events became the norm, pushing most life on Earth past its limits.
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The oldest evidence of Earth's atmosphere may be hiding in rocks on the moonThe moon hasn't had a magnetic field for 4.36 billion years. That means it could hold fragments of the ancient Earth.
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Scientists invent nanorobots that can repair brain aneurysmsTiny robots much smaller than blood cells could deliver clot-forming drugs where they're needed most, a study in rabbits suggests. The tech has yet to be tested in humans.
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MIT scientists build hair-size batteries that can power cell-sized robotsAn internal power source could enable the development of tiny robots for applications like drug delivery and remote sensing.
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Weird mystery waves that baffle scientists may be 'everywhere' inside Earth's mantleStructures that scatter seismic waves deep in Earth's mantle seem to be everywhere researchers look.
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10 of the deadliest superbugs that scientists are worried aboutThese bacteria have evolved the ability to resist treatment with antibiotics, leaving doctors scrambling to help patients who are infected.
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Scientists drill longest-ever piece of Earth's mantle from underwater mountain near 'Lost City'Scientists just pulled the longest hunk of Earth's mantle from beneath the ocean.
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Sapphires form inside the fiery hearts of volcanoes, not deep in the mantle like we thoughtA new study of sapphires found in volcanic fields in Germany reveals that these beautiful blue stones form where magma and rocks from Earth's crust mix.
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'Simone is a very, very rare bird': Experts discuss the science behind Simone Biles' gymnastic prowessEven among the world's most elite gymnasts, American Simone Biles, now competing in her third Olympic Games, is a standout.
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7 scary diseases you can get from the waterMany deadly infections are transmitted via water, including cholera, typhoid and brain-eating amoebas.
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'Brain-eating' amoebas kill nearly 100% of victims. Could new treatments change that?Feature Doctors are pulling out new techniques and drugs in an effort to cure devastating brain infections.
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'Failed' microcontinent found hiding beneath Greenland and CanadaThe Davis Strait, west of Greenland, holds a long-lost chunk of an almost-continent that didn't quite form about 58 million years ago.
