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The exoplanet WASP-12b, located 867 light-years from Earth, is just two million miles away from its star. It has a surface temperature of 4000 degrees Fahrenheit, and it has to take some seriously extreme measures to keep its atmosphere intact. More »
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In 2000, the European Space Agency sent four spacecraft into the magnetosphere, to study how the magnetic field around the planet works. For a decade, the craft have analyzed the aurora, solar winds, and more. How do they do it? More »
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If you've ever wondered why the air seems thinner at either of Earth's poles, then the answer may have something to do with our planet's magnetic field, and the fact that it just may be stealing our oxygen. More »
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Forget the ozone layer, global warming, and all of the other things environmentalists whine about: the one thing holding life together here on Earth is its powerful magnetic field. And for the past 150 years that humans have been measuring it, our only line of defense against deadly cosmic and solar radiation has been mysteriously weakening. Now, new research says the situation is even more dire than we thought. Looking back 2,000 years into the past, geophysicists have calculated that the field's been weakening the entire time, and that we've got about 500 years to go before it's gone entirely. More »
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