While the Milankovitch Cycles operate on timescales far longer than human lifespans, their effects are always at play.

P erihelion – or the Earth's closest approach to our host star – will take place on January 3, 2026. At this point, our planet will be around 2.5 million kilometers ( 1.5 million miles) closer to the ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky. “Dark comets” are much more common than previously thought ...

Every second, the Earth spins at an incredible speed, completing a full rotation in just 24 hours. While this may seem ...

If you haven’t accomplished as much this summer as you had hoped to, you can blame forces far beyond your control: a few of these dog days, by one measure, are among the shortest you’ve ever lived ...

A geologic mystery that has lingered for the past year has finally been solved: What caused an odd cascade of vibrations to ripple across the globe for nine days? Using classified seafloor maps from ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. Oct 23, 2025, 12:48pm EDT Oct 23, 2025, 01:42pm EDT Illustration ...

If you’re the kind of person who gets a lot done, you’re grateful for every one of the 86,400 seconds that make up a day. On July 9, however, as well as on July 22, and August 5, you won’t get your ...

Earth's rotation is randomly speeding up, and nobody is quite sure why. These speedups, which have occurred several times over the last few years, haven't had any effect on daily life, but they also ...

Across the Northern Hemisphere, people are soaking up the long hours of summer sunlight, with no idea that they’re experiencing some of the shortest days since modern timekeeping began—by a ...

If you haven’t accomplished as much this summer as you had hoped to, you can blame forces far beyond your control: a few of these dog days, by one measure, are among the shortest you’ve ever lived ...

According to Live Science, the surface of Venus has a high albedo, reflecting about 76% of the sunlight that reaches it, which is due to the clouds being composed mainly of sulfuric acid droplets.