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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.

Partial human skull fossil.

Human evolution: 20 years of discoveries

Posted by in Human World | 7 days ago
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The pace of archaeological discoveries has picked up in recent decades, helping to refine the human story.
The words 'the roaring twenties' in big block letters.

Get ready for the ’20s!

Posted by in Human World | 3 weeks ago
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“Anybody besides me notice that the past two decades have been nameless?”
Humpback whale.

Why are whales big, but not bigger?

Posted by in Earth | 1 month ago
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How did whales that feed on tiny prey evolve into the largest creatures on Earth? And why don’t they get even bigger?
Two orange circles with black balls at their centers.

A second black hole at our galaxy’s center?

Posted by in Space | 1 month ago
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There’s a supermassive black hole – 4 million times our sun’s mass – in the center of our Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers who’ve measured star movements near this central black hole are now saying there might be a 2nd companion black hole near it.
Young men looking at a small red box on a table.

Bringing community astronomy to rural Africa

Posted by in Human World | 1 month ago
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Ideas discussed at last month’s International Astronomical Union symposium in Tokyo include projects using smartphones and low-cost battery-powered equipment.
Snowy, rocky mountaintop against a pink sky.

Amazon fires quickening glacier melting in Andes

Posted by in Earth | Human World | 1 month ago
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The burning rainforest releases black carbon into the atmosphere, which, according to a growing number of scientific studies, directly contributes to the melting of glaciers.
Plume of smoke rising into the sky over the ocean.

Why White Island erupted … and why there was no warning

Posted by in Earth | 1 month ago
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White Island is one of several volcanoes in New Zealand that can produce sudden explosive eruptions at any time. An Earth scientist explains why.

A shimmery pink circle against a black background with a faint ray of light through the center.

Did this black hole swallow a star?

Posted by in Space | 2 months ago
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We know of a couple of dozen so-called “stellar-mass” black holes in our Milky Way galaxy. They tend to be between about 5 and 20 times as heavy as our sun. This new black hole – in a distant spiral arm of the galaxy – is 70 times as heavy as the sun.
Several turkeys against a blue sky background.

Thanksgiving turkey: Light meat or dark?

Posted by in Human World | 2 months ago
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Want to avoid politics at this year’s Thanksgiving dinner? Amaze your companions with your knowledge of why different cuts of turkey have different characteristics.
Acorns on an oak tree branch with leaves.

Tons of acorns in your yard? It must be a mast year

Posted by in Earth | 2 months ago
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Masting is what biologists call the pattern of trees for miles around synchronizing to all produce lots of seeds – or very few. Why and how do they get on schedule?