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EarthSky Voices

Waterfall illusion: Still objects seem to move

Check out this optical illusion and find out what it says about your brain.

View from space: North America’s deepest lake

Roughly the same size of Belgium, Canada’s Great Slave Lake runs nearly 2,000 feet (600 meters) deep. This article from NASA Earth Observatory describes the lake and conditions around it in 2019.

Why super-sized beavers went extinct

Super-sized beavers were as big as black bears. They suddenly became extinct 10,000 years ago, while small modern beavers survived. Now scientists know why.

Magnetic north is shifting fast. What’ll happen to the northern lights?

As magnetic north shifts increasingly away from the geologic north pole - towards Siberia - studies suggest the northern lights could move with it.

Lush underwater forests … in the Arctic

Did you know that there are hidden underwater forests of large brown seaweeds (kelps) in the Arctic? As temperatures warm, the forests are expanding.

How Venus and Mars can teach us about Earth

The atmospheres of our 2 neighbors Mars and Venus can teach us a lot about past and future scenarios for our own planet.

Why Pluto is losing atmosphere: Winter is coming

Pluto's orbit is very elongated. Right now, it's in a part of its orbit where its distance from the sun is steadily increasing. That fact is devastating its atmosphere.

Microplastics found in remote Pyrenees Mountains

Microplastic particles - too small for the human eye to see - were blown into the once pristine region by the wind, according to a new study.

Will the Higgs boson help scientists trap dark matter?

A University of Chicago physicist has laid out an innovative method - using the Higgs boson - for stalking dark matter. He said the Higgs might actually be "a portal to the dark world."

What’s on the far side of the moon?

The far side of the moon sees its share of sunlight. With all due respect to Pink Floyd, the moon's far side is dark only in the sense that it's mysterious. Here's why.

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