Most spiral galaxies in the Universe have a bar structure in their centre, and Hubble’s image of NGC 1073 offers a particularly clear view of one of these. Galaxies’ star-filled bars are thought to emerge as gravitational density waves funnel … Continue reading
Early galaxies, flowering with dramatic starbursts in the early Universe, saw the birth of new stars abruptly cut short, leaving them as massive galaxies of aging stars in the present day. The likely culprit for the sudden end to the … Continue reading
The oldest terranes, with ages ranging from 3.8 Ga to 4.0 Ga, have been identified in Canada, while Australian zircon crystals dated at 4.4 Ga represent the oldest dated minerals on Earth. The exceptional resistance of zircon grains to repeated … Continue reading
Animal embryo-like fossils from the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation, South China, have been interpreted as the earliest metazoan fossils, significantly predating the radiation of biomineralizing animals and macroscopic bilaterians during the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition. This article discusses the fossilization process of these … Continue reading
Using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have uncovered a cluster of galaxies in the initial stages of development, making it the most distant such grouping ever observed in the early Universe. In a sky survey made in near-infrared light … Continue reading
Although an African origin of the modern human species is generally accepted, the evolutionary processes involved in the speciation, geographical spread, and eventual extinction of archaic humans outside of Africa are much debated. An additional complexity has been the recent … Continue reading
Recent results from the Herschel Space Observatory show that gas-rich galaxies in the early universe were able to create stars at an intense rate. In the recent universe, we only see such high rates of star formation when galaxies collide. However, … Continue reading
Watch a 3-minute journey through the last 250 years of our history, from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the Rio+20 Summit. The film charts the growth of humanity into a global force on an equivalent scale to major … Continue reading
MISSION Globaïa is a global education organization whose mission is to foster a consistent and informed participation of citizens in environmental issues by understanding the multiple dimensions of today’s world and its likely future. OBJECTIVES 1. To promote a comprehensive, … Continue reading
Welcome to the Anthropocene is a website which is designed to improve our collective understanding of the Earth system. The site aims to inspire, educate and engage people about humanity’s impact on Earth. Its unique combination of high-level scientific data … Continue reading