New Scientist - Earth

1. Volcano in Ethiopia is releasing unusually large plumes of methane
   Satellites have detected large volumes of methane spewing from Mount Fentale’s crater following months of earthquakes that have shaken the region
2. In millions of years, what could a future civilisation learn about us?
   Millions of years after humans vanish, fossil clues showing how we lived and dominated the planet may confuse future civilisations, says a new book by Sarah Gabbott and Jan Zalasiewicz
3. Clever chemistry can make rocks absorb CO2 much more quickly
   Spreading crushed rocks on fields can absorb CO2 from the air – now chemists have devised a way to turbocharge this process by creating more reactive minerals
4. We are finally getting to grips with how plate tectonics started
   Today, the upheavals of plate tectonics continually reshape Earth. When this began is much disputed - and we can’t fully understand how life began to thrive on our planet until we figure it out
5. Earth’s oceans may have been green for billions of years
   Some cyanobacteria have pigments that specialise in harvesting green light to power photosynthesis, which may be because they evolved at a time when the oceans were iron-rich and green-tinged
6. Earth wouldn’t have ice caps without eroding rocks and quiet volcanoes
   Throughout Earth's history, ice caps have been very rare, but a model of the past 420 million years suggests an explanation for why they sometimes form
7. California’s groundwater drought continues despite torrential rain
   Seismic measurement of Los Angeles’s depleted aquifers show a year of heavy precipitation hasn’t been enough to refill them
8. Forces deep underground seem to be deforming Earth's inner core
   Seismic waves suggest the planet's solid inner core is being pulled out of shape – and it has undergone these changes over just a few decades
9. Gorgeous images capture coral breeding breakthrough
   Cryopreserved coral sperm could be used for future breeding programmes to restore damaged reefs
10. Dark oxygen: New deep sea expedition to explore mysterious discovery
    The shock discovery that metallic nodules could be producing oxygen in the deep sea made headlines last year – now the team behind it is launching a new project to confirm and explain the findings