All Stories by Thomas Sumner
- Earth
Wave-thumping ‘weather bomb’ storms send elusive S waves through Earth
A rare type of deep-Earth tremor called an S wave generated by a rapidly strengthening storm could help scientists map the planet’s mantle and core.
- Climate
Global warming amplified death toll during 2003 European heat wave
Climate change caused hundreds of fatalities in London and Paris during the 2003 European heat wave, simulations suggest.
- Oceans
Lack of nutrients stalled rebound of marine life post-Permian extinction
Warm sea surface temperatures slowed the nitrogen cycle in Earth’s oceans and delayed the recovery of life following the Permian extinction, researchers propose.
- Earth
Americas’ hookup not so ancient after all
Debate lingers over when the Isthmus of Panama formed and closed the seaway that separated North and South America millions of years ago.
- Paleontology
Humans may have taken different path into Americas than thought
An ice-free corridor through the North American Arctic may have been too barren to support the first human migrations into the New World.
- Environment
New desalination tech could help quench global thirst
Designed with better, more energy-efficient materials, next-generation desalination plants may offer a way to meet the world’s growing need for freshwater.
- Climate
India’s monsoon winds trace back nearly 13 million years
The intense monsoon winds that carry torrential rain to India each year first started blowing around 12.9 million years ago, new research suggests.
- Earth
New scenario proposed for birth of Pacific Plate
The Pacific tectonic plate formed at the junction of three other plates and above of the remains of a submerged plate, geophysicists propose.
- Earth
Ancient air bubbles could revise history of Earth’s oxygen
Pockets of ancient air trapped in rock salt for around 815 million years suggest that oxygen was abundant well before the first animals appear in the fossil record.
- Earth
How dinosaurs hopped across an ocean
Land bridges may have once allowed dinosaurs and other animals to travel between North America and Europe around 150 million years ago, a researcher proposes.
- Climate
Phytoplankton’s response to climate change has its ups and downs
In a four-year experiment, the shell-building activities of a phytoplankton species underwent surprising ups and downs.
- Oceans
Underwater city was built by microbes, not people
Submerged stoneworklike formations near the Greek island of Zakynthos were built by methane-munching microbes, not ancient Greeks.
