Earth’s magnetosphere protects us from charged particles constantly emitted by the Sun, but intense conditions can breach it through a process called magnetic reconnection. Now, researchers from Japan propose a novel method using soft X-ray imaging to remotely measure the reconnection rate, a key parameter in magnetic reconnection. This study showcases a powerful tool for forecasting hazardous space weather events, paving the way to safer near-Earth space applications and exploration.

Kyoto, Japan --  During the midday Friday prayer hours on 28 March 2025, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck central Myanmar along the Sagaing Fault. With an epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, it was the most powerful earthquake to strike Myanmar in more than a century and the second deadliest in its modern history.

The cause was a strike-slip fault, in which two masses of earth "slip" past each other horizontally along a vertical fault plane. To an observer, it would look like the ground were split in two along a defined line, with both sides being wrenched past each other in opposite directions.

Previous seismological studies have inferred pulse-like rupture behavior and curved slip paths from the analysis of seismic data. However, because the recording instruments were at a considerable distance from the fault itself, these findings were indirect.

A new study from the University of Missouri sheds light on how exceptional fossil preservation at Mazon Creek captured the diversity of life across land, delta and sea.

A pesky fish may be the culprit behind bleached tropical coral off the coast of the Florida Keys, according to research from the University of Georgia.