Life's Little Mysteries Earth Archives
Saturday's 'Supermoon' Won't Destroy Earth
May 02, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Have no fear of the supermoon this Saturday. Earth can handle its slightly-stronger-than-normal gravitational pull.
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How to Find a Meteorite in 5 Steps
May 01, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Finding a specimen from space takes hard work and dedication, but these steps will get you looking in the right direction.
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What If the Sky Fell?
April 27, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Conditions are pretty grim on an Earth with no atmosphere.
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Is the Salton Sea Drying Up?
April 27, 2012, Robert Roy Britt, Editor in Chief
There's something very unnatural about this sea.
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Apocalypse Soon: What Would You Do If Earth Were Doomed?
April 13, 2012, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
If a huge asteroid were headed for Earth and we all had one month left to live, how would you react?
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What Causes Earth's Seasons?
March 20, 2012, Robert Roy Britt
Earth's seasons are determined by our annual trip around the sun and the planet's tilt.
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What If There Were No Seasons?
March 09, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Humans would have trouble getting a foothold on an Earth without seasons.
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How Does Sea Foam Form?
March 09, 2012, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
That weird puffy stuff washed ashore is probably perfectly natural.
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Why Do We Need Leap Days?
February 29, 2012, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
Leap days are necessary to keep the Gregorian calendar synced up to actual astronomical measures of the passage of time.
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Radioactive Rain Across the US Is Natural
February 23, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
YouTube is flooded with videos of people detecting high levels of radioactivity shortly after rainfall. But as it turns out, this radiation comes from a natural source.
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What If Earth's Magnetic Poles Flip?
February 10, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
What will happen if or when the direction of Earth's magnetic field reverses, so that compasses point south?
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Punxsutawney Phil Predicts More Winter, but How Accurate Is He?
February 02, 2012, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, a sign that six more weeks of winter are coming. But how accurate are his predictions?
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10 Strangest Sights on Google Earth
January 26, 2012, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
In lieu of a whirlwind trip round the world, check out some highlights courtesy of Google Earth.
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World's Largest Island-in-a-lake-on-an-island-in-a-lake-on-an-island Seen on Google Earth
January 24, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
The dubious distinction belongs to a four acre island in Northern Canada.
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Easy Answers to Your Kids' Most Burning Questions
January 24, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
A new survey has identified the five most common questions kids ask their parents. It also found that most parents don't know how to answer them. Life's Little Mysteries steps in to fill the knowledge ...
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What Tree Rings Sound Like Played on a Record Player
January 19, 2012, Life's Little Mysteries Staff
Artist Bartholomäus Traubeck has built a record player that can play a cross-sectional slice of a tree trunk. Here's what the tree rings sound like.
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Can 'Walking Palm Trees' Really Walk?
January 16, 2012, Benjamin Radford, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
A spider-like tropical tree "walks" toward sunlight, locals say.
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Earth's Newest Island, Burped from a Volcano, Is a Keeper
January 10, 2012, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
A new island has formed out of the lava and ash from a volcanic eruption in the Red Sea. Unlike many such islands which quickly erode, experts say this one is a keeper.
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Earth has Two 'Moons' Right Now, Theorists Say
December 22, 2011, by Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
A new study characterizing the way Earth captures nearby asteroids suggests that our planet typically has a temporary "second moon" at any given time.
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Giant Tsunami-Shape Clouds Roll Across Alabama Sky
December 19, 2011, Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Unusual clouds rolled across the Alabama sky on Friday. Called Kelvin-Helmholtz waves, they formed because warm winds skirted the top of a cold, thick cloud.
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Can a Butterfly in Brazil Really Cause a Tornado in Texas?
December 12, 2011, Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
The butterfly effect has long been used by weather and financial forecasters as an excuse for why they can't make accurate predictions of the future. But research shows butterflies flapping their wings...
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Do Ocean Waves Really Travel in Sets of 7?
December 08, 2011, Eli MacKinnon, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor
Sea-worn mariners will tell you that waves travel in sets of seven, but is that true?
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Would You Really Sink If You Fell into a Volcano?
December 07, 2011, Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
The common understanding of how humans die when they fall into lava is wrong. You wouldn't sink and melt. You would catch on fire.
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What's Causing the Fierce Santa Ana Winds?
December 01, 2011, Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
California is experiencing an especially powerful bout of Santa Ana winds this week, which experts say are caused by a pressure gradient between the east and west.
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What Are Climate Change Skeptics Still Skeptical About?
November 21, 2011, Natalie Wolchover, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
Despite the growing body of research proving that global warming is real and caused by humans, some scientists disagree.
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