Volcanoes shape the surface of the Earth, by bringing molten rock from the deep interior to the surface and creating the crust. The majority of the Earth’s volcanism happens at plate boundaries, so called inter-plate volcanism, including the mid-ocean ridges (like the East Pacific Rise... click to read more

The inner core of the Earth is a solid spinning ball of mostly iron, almost the size of the Moon. Temperatures on the surface of the inner core can reach close to those at the surface of the Sun. The next layer, the outer core,... click to read more

A large fraction of the stars of the present-day Universe is enclosed in giant, round-shaped galaxies, called “ellipticals”. Elliptical galaxies host very old stars, formed more than 10 billion years ago when the universe was still young. Despite the large availability of gas (the fuel... click to read more

If you have had the opportunity to climb up to the top of a tall mountain, you have probably noticed that as you go up the trees become smaller and smaller, until they disappear from the landscape, and only small shrubs, grasses and herbs fill... click to read more

I invite you to use Google Earth and explore Mars. Look at the Martian southern hemisphere, and find an arid landscape littered with fossil valleys. These valleys speak of a remote past, when the red planet had water on its surface. There are thousands... click to read more