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Writer Fuel: Will Cell Phone Towers Lead Aliens to Us?

alien ship - deposit photos

If intelligent aliens are searching for other advanced lifeforms in the galaxy, our cell phone towers could be the beacons that give Earthlings away. New research suggests that advanced aliens in nearby star systems could probably already detect radio signals from cell phone towers. And as these signals become more powerful, humanity’s calling card will … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Radar Satellites Reveal 19,000 Volcanoes on the Ocean Floor

Pao Pao Seamount in the South Pacific Ocean has been mapped by sonar, while thousands of other seamounts are just now being discovered by satellites. (Image credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research)

High-definition radar satellites have revealed more than 19,000 undersea volcanoes around our planet, providing scientists with the most comprehensive catalog of seamounts ever created. The new compendium, which was published April 6 in the journal Earth and Space Science, could provide a better understanding of ocean currents, plate tectonics and climate change. Prior to this, … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Why Are Deserts Dry?

sunset over the desert - deposit photos

Deserts can take many forms — including sweeping sand dunes, rocky canyons, sagebrush steppes and polar ice fields. But they’re united by one thing: a lack of rainfall. Generally speaking, anywhere that gets less than 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain a year counts as a desert, said Lynn Fenstermaker, an ecologist at the Desert … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Will We Ever Lose the Moon?

the moon in red over a sea of clouds at night - deposit photos

The moon’s orbit around Earth appears so regular that civilizations have based the month on lunar motion for thousands of years. However, the moon is actually creeping slowly away from Earth. So will Earth lose its moon at some point? Scientists determined the rate at which the moon is drifting away from Earth with help … Read more

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Writer Fuel: How Tall Could the Highest (Earth) Mountain Get?

Evening view of Mount Everest from Kala Patthar - Deposit Photos

Sixty million years ago, when the Eurasian plate slammed into the Indian plate, a mountain range was born. Because these plates were of similar density, neither could sink below the other. The rocks had nowhere to go but up. Now, the Himalayas host Earth’s tallest mountains. Mount Everest is the tallest, towering 5.4 miles (8.8 … Read more

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Review: Dropnauts – J. Scott Coatsworth

Dropnauts - J. Scott Coatsworth

Genre: Sci-Fi Reviewer: Olivia Universal Buy Link | Bookshop.Org About The Book Life after the Crash.Over a century after the end of the Earth, life goes on in Redemption, the sole remaining Lunar colony, and possibly the last outpost of humankind in the Solar System. But with an existential threat burrowing its way into the … Read more

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Writer Fuel: New Video Shows Continents Evolving Over 100 Million Years

Earth's continents

New “unprecedented” animations of the Earth show how the planet’s surface has shifted and changed over the past 100 million years. These animations are the most detailed view of the history of Earth’s topography ever, depicting the rise of mountains, the development of basins, and the transport of large masses of sediments around the globe … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Scientists Discover “Tides” in Space, Caused by the Moon

tides in space

The moon exerts a previously unknown tidal force on the “plasma ocean” surrounding Earth’s upper atmosphere, creating fluctuations that are similar to the tides in the oceans, a new study suggests. In the study, published Jan. 26 in the journal Nature Physics, scientists used more than 40 years of data collected by satellites to track … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Astronomers Map Our Local “Swiss Cheese” Bubble in 3-D

Earth's local "swiss cheese" bubble

An enormous,1,000-light-year-wide “superbubble” surrounds our planet. Now, astronomers have made the first ever 3D map of its magnetic field. The gigantic structure, known as the “Local Bubble,” is a hollow blob of diffuse, hot plasma enclosed by a shell of cold gas and dust along whose surface stars form. It is just one of numerous … Read more

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Writer Fuel: Did Life on Earth Come From Radioactive Space Rocks?

meteor - deposit photos

A special type of radioactive meteorite could have seeded life on Earth, a new study found. Carbonaceous chondrites, a type of radioactive meteorite chock full of water and organic compounds, produce energetic gamma rays that can drive the chemical reactions to synthesize amino acids — the building blocks of life — researchers discovered. Meteorites are … Read more