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Samples of 'alien' asteroid Ryugu are crawling with life — from Earth
By Ben Turner published
Scientists have found microorganisms crawling over a sample retrieved from the 200 million-mile-distant asteroid Ryugu. But they almost certainly came from Earth.

Earth's '2nd moon' escapes our planet's orbit — will it ever return?
By Ben Turner published
The mini-moon 2024 PT5, which has been orbiting Earth for two months and is likely a chunk of the moon, will now drift away from our planet in an orbit around the sun.

What is plate tectonics?
By Tiffany Means last updated
Blame plate tectonics for Earth’s mountains, earthquakes, volcanoes, and why its continents fit together like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle.

'God of chaos' asteroid may be transformed by tremors and landslides during 2029 flyby of Earth, study finds
By Deepa Jain published
When the 'God of chaos' asteroid Apophis makes an ultraclose flyby of Earth in 2029, our planet's gravity may trigger tremors and landslides that totally change the asteroid's surface.

How many weeks are there in a year?
By Richard Pallardy published
We take our timekeeping rules for granted, but the history of these rules is long and complex.

Most of Earth's meteorites may have come from the same 3 spots
By Conor Feehly published
Scientists say they've uncovered where the vast majority of Earth's meteorites came from.

4 large asteroids, including a skyscraper-size 'city killer,' will zoom past Earth in a 12-hour span tomorrow (Oct. 24)
By Harry Baker published
Four "potentially hazardous" space rocks, which are between 100 and 580 feet across, will all make their closest approaches to Earth within less than 12 hours of one another on Thursday (Oct. 24). Two of them were only discovered earlier this month.

How old is planet Earth?
By Briley Lewis published
How old is Earth? Our planet's age is known from a variety of sources, from rocks on our own planet to ones from the moon.

Listen to haunting sounds of Earth's magnetic field flipping 41,000 years ago in eerie new animation
By Harry Baker published
A new video shows how Earth's magnetic field weakened and warped before temporarily flipping during a recent "polar reversal event."

Rare illusion gives 'once-in-a-lifetime' comet a seemingly impossible 2nd tail after closest approach to Earth for 80,000 years
By Harry Baker published
New photos of comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS appear to show a faint "anti-tail" pointing away in the wrong direction. The puzzling extra limb is the result of a rare illusion that is only possible when our planet is in a certain position.
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