7,722 results
- Environment
Earth’s oldest known wildfires raged 430 million years ago
430-million-year-old fossilized charcoal suggests atmospheric oxygen levels of at least 16 percent, the amount needed for fire to take hold and spread.
- Environment
Mangrove forests expand and contract with a lunar cycle
The carbon-sequestering trees grow in a roughly 18-year cycle according to tides influenced by the moon’s orbit, a study in Australia finds.
- Paleontology
Dinosaur ‘mummies’ may not be rare flukes after all
Bite marks on a fossilized dinosaur upend the idea that exquisite skin preservation must result from a carcass's immediate smothering under sediment.
- Planetary Science
A new look at the ‘mineral kingdom’ may transform how we search for life
A new census of Earth’s crystal past hints that life may have begun earlier than expected, and could be a tool to look for water and life elsewhere.
- Animals
Extreme climate shifts long ago may have helped drive reptile evolution
The end-Permian extinction left reptiles plenty of open ecological niches. But rapid climate change may be what kick-started the animals’ dominance.
- Paleontology
How mammals took over the world
In the book The Rise and Reign of the Mammals, paleontologist Steve Brusatte tracks the evolutionary innovations that made mammals so successful.
- Earth
Not one, but two asteroids might have slain the dinosaurs
A craterlike structure found off West Africa’s coast might have been formed by an asteroid impact around the same time the dinosaurs went extinct.
- Planetary Science
Robin Wordsworth re-creates the atmosphere of ancient Mars
Robin Wordsworth studies the climates of Mars and other alien worlds to find out whether they could support life.
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Predicting the damage caused by extreme storms
Editor in chief Nancy Shute discusses how scientists are figuring out how to predict the effects of extreme hurricanes.
- Space
Artemis missions will usher in a new, more diverse crew of astronauts
Space agencies are preparing to send the next generation of astronauts to the moon and beyond. Here’s how the next crews will be different from the last ones.
- Earth
How climbers help scientists vibe with Utah’s famous red rock formations
Researchers teamed up with rock climbers to collect rare data that help them assess the seismic stability of red rock formations in Utah.
- Earth
In 2021, a deadly volcano erupted with no warning. Here’s why
Before the Nyiragongo eruption, underground magma was already close to the surface and so didn’t trigger instruments that look for lava movement.
