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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Just 25 light-years from Earth, astronomers have watched a planetary system tear itself apart in real time, catching the ...

(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 ...

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 ...

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 ...