Earth
- Climate
‘Flash droughts’ are growing increasingly common
Droughts are forming faster more often in much of the world due to climate change, a new study finds.
- Environment
Satellite imagery reveals ‘hidden’ tornado tracks
Twisters that churn over barren landscapes leave scars that are invisible to human eyes but are detectable with infrared light.
- Climate
How an Indigenous community in Panama is escaping rising seas
The Indigenous Guna peoples' relocation from Panama could offer lessons for other communities threatened by climate change.
- Climate
Baseball’s home run boom is due, in part, to climate change
Higher air temperatures led to an average of 58 more home runs each MLB season from 2010 to 2019, a study shows.
- Oceans
‘Jet packs’ and ultrasounds could reveal secrets of pregnant whale sharks
Only one pregnant whale shark has ever been studied. New underwater techniques using ultrasound and blood tests could change that.
- Math
Here’s why the geometric patterns in salt flats worldwide look so similar
New research suggests the shared geometry of salt flats from Death Valley to Iran comes from fluid flows underground.
- Health & Medicine
Microplastics are in our bodies. Here’s why we don’t know the health risks
Researchers are racing to try to understand how much humans are exposed and what levels are toxic.
- Climate
By flying over atmospheric rivers, scientists aim to improve forecasts
Drenching atmospheric rivers are slamming the U.S. West Coast, bringing needed water but dangerous flooding. Here’s how scientists study these storms.
- Agriculture
Martian soil may have all the nutrients rice needs
Experiments hint that in the future, we might be able to grow the staple food in the soils of the Red Planet.
- Oceans
50 years ago, researchers discovered a leak in Earth’s oceans
An analysis of oceanic rocks hinted that ocean water drains into Earth’s mantle. How much makes it back into the ocean remains unclear.
- Earth
Earth’s inner core may be more complex than researchers thought
Seismic waves suggest that Earth has a hidden heart, a distinct region within the solid part of the planet’s core.
- Earth
A moon-forming cataclysm could have also triggered Earth’s plate tectonics
Deeply buried remnants of a hypothetical planet that slammed into Earth 4.5 billion years ago might have set subduction into motion.
