Deforestation for agriculture and fires were the main drivers of the increase, according to the authors.
The scientists say that a "collapse" in law enforcement in recent years has encouraged forest clearing.
The research findings have been submitted for publication but have yet to be independently reviewed. As home to the largest tropical forest on Earth, the Amazon plays a critical role...
Shortly after 03:30 GMT on Monday, Earth's orbit meant that for several minutes our planet was positioned directly between the Sun and the Moon.
In that time the Moon fell completely into Earth's shadow - temporarily turning it a dusky shade of dark red.
Its hue was created by sunlight being projected through Earth's atmosphere onto the Moon's shadowed surface.
The lunar eclipse coincided...
The robotics professor has been leading the development of a tiny wheeled robot called Iris, which could become the first uncrewed rover sent by the US to explore the Moon.
Iris has not been built by experienced engineers at Nasa or a large aerospace company, but by students at Whittaker's home institution of Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh. The robot was recently secured to its...
Absolutely, says Ralph McNutt from Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU-APL) in the US.
McNutt, with colleagues, has just published a detailed report that envisions a long-lived interstellar probe - a mission to the space between the stars.
Nasa's legendary Voyagers are travelling through this domain right now, but McNutt's probe would go further and...
The impact caused devastation, with most animals and plants dying out.
But scientists say a handful of surviving snake species were able to thrive in a post-apocalyptic world by hiding underground and going long periods without food.
The resilient reptiles then spread out across the globe, evolving into the 3,000 or more species known today.
The dinosaurs famously died out when an asteroid...
