All Stories by Carolyn Gramling
- Earth
A deadly 2014 landslide’s power came from soils weakened by past slides
Researchers reconstruct how a hillside failed, producing the deadly 2014 Oso landslide.
- Climate
As ice retreats, frozen mosses emerge to tell climate change tale
Plants long entombed beneath Canadian ice are now emerging, telling a story of warming unprecedented in the history of human civilization.
- Paleontology
T. rex’s silly-looking arms were built for slashing
Tyrannosaurus rex may have used its small arms for slashing prey.
- Climate
‘Killer Hurricanes’ reconstructs the past to predict storms of the future
Geologists find clues to the future of deadly hurricanes, written in stone and sand, in the new NOVA documentary “Killer Hurricanes.”
- Earth
How volcanoes may have ended the dynasty of Ptolemy and Cleopatra
Volcanic ash in polar ice reveal a link between eruptions and the timing of revolts in Cleopatra’s Egypt.
- Earth
When the Larsen C ice shelf broke, it exposed a hidden world
Scientists plan urgent missions to visit the world the Larsen C iceberg left behind.
- Climate
During El Niño, the tropics emit more carbon dioxide
El Niño increases carbon emissions from the tropics — mimicking future climate change.
- Animals
New deep-sea sponge could play a starring role in monitoring ocean health
A new species of sponge that dwells on metal-rich rocks could help scientists track the environmental impact of deep-sea mining.
- Chemistry
Chemistry Nobel Prize goes to 3-D snapshots of life’s atomic details
An imaging technique that gives up-close 3-D views of proteins is honored in this year's chemistry Nobel Prize.
- Climate
Tropical forests have flipped from sponges to sources of carbon dioxide
Analyses of satellite images suggest that degraded forests now release more carbon than they store.
- Paleontology
Saber-toothed kittens were born armed to pounce
Even as babies, saber-toothed cats had not only oversized canine teeth but also unusually powerful forelimbs.
- Earth
Plate tectonics started at least 3.5 billion years ago
Analyses of titanium in rock suggest plate tectonics began 500 million years earlier than thought.
