Science Daily

• Earth may have lost the Sun’s protective shield millions of years ago

  NASA-funded studies suggest Earth’s climate has been influenced by both the Sun’s travels through dense regions of the Milky Way and the violent superflares of its youth. Those events may help explain ancient ice ages as well as how early Earth stayed warm enough for liquid water when the Sun was much dimmer.

• Scientists discover why snake embryos twist into spirals

  Snake embryos begin life curled into a distinctive right-handed spiral, and scientists may finally know why. Their bodies grow faster than their guts, creating a tether that forces the lengthening embryo to buckle and twist inside the egg. Researchers reached the conclusion after studying more than 900 embryos and using CT scans to reveal the hidden anatomy behind the coils.

• One of Earth’s driest places was just covered in snow

  Rare storms covered huge stretches of Chile’s Atacama Desert in snow and dumped extraordinary amounts of rain on one of the driest regions on Earth. The extreme weather shut down observatories, triggered damaging floods and mudflows, and unfolded against the backdrop of a strengthening El Niño.

• A massive plume deep beneath Africa is pulling the continent apart

  A vast plume rising from deep inside Earth may be responsible for mysterious movements along the East African Rift. The discovery reveals how forces deep in the mantle are working alongside shallower geological forces as the continent slowly pulls apart.

• A coffee-table-size scorpion roamed Earth before forests existed

  A meter-long scorpion with massive pincers stalked ancient Britain 415 million years ago, long before forests and the better-known age of giant insects. Its surprising size and possible semi-aquatic lifestyle could reshape ideas about how early arthropods became giants.