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EarthSky Voices

EarthSky Voices

Members of the EarthSky community - including scientists, as well as science and nature writers from across the globe - weigh in on what's important to them. Photo by Robert Spurlock.

Seven half-lit balls in a row, against a black background.

TESS spacecraft is finding hundreds of exoplanets

Posted by in Space | 5 days ago
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… and it’s poised to find thousands more. But will we find another Earth?
Hillside landscape with evergreen trees and yellow-leafed trees.

Why don’t evergreen trees change color and drop their leaves?

Posted by in Earth | 2 weeks ago
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As temperatures drop, broad-leafed deciduous trees – think maples and oaks – withdraw the green chlorophyll from their leaves. Their leaves turn colors and fall. Evergreens solve the problem of winter in a different way.

Is daylight time worth the trouble?

Posted by in Human World | 2 weeks ago
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This is the weekend we “fall back” here in the U.S. Are you glad? Sad? Mad? Advocates say daylight time saves energy and wins wars. Studies show injuries and illnesses rise when clocks change.

Streak of light in a dark sky heading downward toward Earth.

Did an asteroid collision cause abrupt Earth cooling?

Posted by in Earth | 2 weeks ago
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What kicked off a rapid cooling on Earth 12,800 years ago? Some geologists believe a fragmented comet or asteroid collided with Earth and caused the change. Read more from a scientist whose fieldwork at a South Carolina lake adds to the growing pile of evidence.

Tiny stature of extinct ‘Hobbit’ thanks to fast evolution

Posted by in Human World | 4 weeks ago
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New research suggests that the tiny human species – that survived until about 18,000 years ago, later than any human species other than our own – evolved its small size remarkably quickly while living on an isolated island.

How deep is the ocean?

Posted by in Earth | 1 month ago
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On average the ocean is 2.3 miles (3.7 km) deep, but many parts are much shallower or deeper. In the deepest zones, life forms have adapted to live in the dark, under crushing water pressure.

10 amazing places for year-round stargazing

Posted by in Astronomy Essentials | 1 month ago
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The stars are accessible to everyone, but where can you get the most from the night sky? Here are 10 great dark-sky places – mostly in the U.S. but also in Australia, New Zealand and Chile – for skywatching and stargazing.
Orange blob on larger light blue blob.

Scientists start mapping universe’s hidden web

Posted by in Space | 1 month ago
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Maps of the long filaments of gas that hold the universe together might one day help trace and unveil dark matter.
A polar bear walking across sea ice.

What climate change in the Arctic means for the rest of us

Posted by in Earth | Human World | 1 month ago
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Air temperatures in the Arctic are increasing at least twice as fast as the global average. What worries climate scientists about the Arctic summer of 2019? And why does it matter for the rest of the world?

Why we need to get back to Venus

Posted by in Space | 2 months ago
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This hot neighbor, with its surface veiled by thick clouds, hasn’t benefited from the attention showered on Mars and the moon. But Venus might offer insights into Earth’s future.