planet earth

While you may not have heard of heard of him yet, Graham Hughes is a name you’ll want to remember. This adventurer and expert traveler has accomplished an absolutely astounding feat that is (literally) going down in the record books – he’s successfully travelled to every country in the world, and, if that’s not impressive enough, he did it all without a plane. Yes, you read that righ

1. North-to-south down the western coast of North and South America. 2. North-to-south over Florida, the Bahamas and other Caribbean islands. 3. South-East Asia, approaching the Philippine Sea 4. Western Europe, from France through Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Middle East. 5. Aurora Australis, over the Indian Ocean, approaching Australia 6. Aurora Australis, over the Indian Ocean. 7. Auro

Artwork showing an asteroid zipping by the Earth moon system. Credit: ILLUSTRATION COURTESY P. CARRIL, ESA A giant asteroid will silently glide by Earth this week, a stark reminder of cosmic dangers lurking nearby. Measuring about 1,067 feet (325 meters) wide, the space intruder nicknamed “the Beast,” more formally known as HQ124, has an estimated width equal to an aircraft carrier (ea

Artistic representation of the potentially habitable world Kapteyn b with the globular cluster Omega Centauri in the background. It is believed that the Omega Centauri is the remaining core of a dwarf galaxy that merged with our own galaxy billions of years ago bringing Kapteyn's star along. Image released June 3, 2014. Credit: PHL @ UPR Arecibo, Aladin Sky Atlas View full size image Astronom

For 11 episodes now, the groundbreaking Fox and National Geographic Channel series Cosmos has been exploring the universe, outraging creationists, and giving science teachers across the nation something to show in class every Monday. In the process, the show has been drawing more than 3 million viewers every Sunday night, a respectable number for a science-focused show that is, after all, a majo

A new kind of ‘Godzilla’ planet - so-called because of its huge size - has been discovered 560 light years from Earth, raising hopes of finding rocky worlds that could sustain life. Named Kepler-10c, the planet is 17 times more massive than our planet, and has been named a 'mega-Earth'. Astronomers didn't believe such a world could exist because they believed anything so large would grab hyd

Supercells are one of the four major types of storm. These long-lasting thunderstorms are rare, and to say they pack a punch is an understatement. They often produce severe weather such as violent winds, hail and tornadoes. A characteristic feature of supercells is the presence of a mesocyclone, which is a deep rotating updraft. Although tornadoes are not inevitable with this type of storm, it is

The Weather Channel Facebook friend Ben Ellison sent us this photo standing on a chunk of ice in Lake Superior on May 25, 2014. The temperature at the time in Duluth was 80 degrees. The first 80s since the week after Labor Day induced a full-blown case of summer fever in the northern Great Lakes on Memorial Day weekend. This led to the odd spectacle of folks heading to the Lake Superior