The interiors of rocky planets and moons tend to be pretty hot compared with their surfaces. This heat, which can be caused by a number of sources — such as tidal stretching and compression, the ...

Snapshots from six computer simulations illustrating the distinct tectonic regimes of terrestrial planets, including the newly discovered “episodic-squishy lid” regime. This framework provides a new ...

How do terrestrial planets like Earth form and evolve to enable life to exist? This is what a recent study published in Nature hopes to address as a pair of scientists from the Southwest Research ...

Scientists have long been intrigued by the surfaces of terrestrial bodies other than Earth that reveal deep similarities beneath their superficially differing volcanic and tectonic histories. A team ...

New research has revealed Venus may have had Earth-like plate tectonics billions of years ago. The finding opens up the possibility that the second planet from the sun, aka a scorching world, also ...

A newly identified tectonic "regime" may rewrite our understanding of how rocky worlds evolve, scientists report in a new study. The findings may help to explain why Earth became geologically vibrant ...

A geologist has revealed intriguing insights into the volcanic activity on Mars. He proposes that Mars has significantly more diverse volcanism than previously realized, driven by an early form of ...

Scientists discovered Earth’s episodic squishy lid shows intermittent tectonic activity. (Image: Nature Communications (2025)) Scientists have discovered a surprising new way planets can recycle heat.

Mars might be geologically quiet today, but it once teemed with tectonic and volcanic movement. New research shows that Mars’ ancient surface was studded with 63 volcanoes, each responsible for ...

Mercury, the innermost planet of our Solar System, has increasingly emerged as a natural laboratory for understanding planetary formation and evolution under extreme conditions. Recent investigations ...