Some cosmic impacts are loud, fiery, and leave unmistakable craters. Others are quieter in geological terms, yet no less destructive. These “touchdown airbursts” occur when a comet or asteroid ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: SCIEPRO/Getty Images When asteroids hurtle towards Earth in Hollywood films, astronauts ...

For most of human history, the story of cosmic catastrophe has been told in craters: scars like Chicxulub that mark where asteroids slammed into the planet and rewrote the rules of life. A growing ...

Cosmic rays inside a dense molecular cloud were measured for the first time, helping scientists better understand how stars begin forming.

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Touchdown airbursts — a type of cosmic impact that may be more common than the crater-forming, dinosaur-killing kind — remain somewhat less understood. UC Santa Barbara Earth ...

Earth’s surface bears the scars of obvious catastrophes, from dinosaur-killing craters to lava fields, but a growing body of research suggests a quieter class of cosmic assault has been largely ...

Researchers continue to expand the case for the Younger Dryas Impact hypothesis. The idea proposes that a fragmented comet smashed into the Earth’s atmosphere 12,800 years ago, causing a widespread ...

Astronomers have long known that powerful cosmic winds can sometimes blow through galaxies, sweeping out interstellar material and stopping future star formation. Now they have a clearer snapshot of ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Researchers continue to build on a body of evidence for a fragmented comet that is thought to have exploded over the Earth almost 13,000 years ago, which may have had a role ...

Agriculture in Syria started with a bang 12,800 years ago as a fragmented comet slammed into the Earth’s atmosphere. The explosion and subsequent environmental changes forced hunter-gatherers in the ...

"Understanding how different asteroid materials vaporize and deflect will be critical for preparing for a planetary defense mission, should the need arise." When you purchase through links on our site ...