Animals
For gray whales, San Francisco Bay is becoming a deadly pit stop
Climate change could be forcing gray whales to seek food in San Francisco Bay, where vessel strikes may be driving rising deaths.
Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Earth
- Agriculture
Heavy soil tilling for agriculture can do more harm than good
The tiny seismic signals of rainwater moving through the ground show how heavy tilling damage soil.
- Space
How realistic is Project Hail Mary?
Ryan Gosling is on a mission to save the sun — and Earth — from star-killing microbes. Science News dissects the science behind the sci-fi movie.
- Earth
Earth’s continental plates were moving 3.48 billion years ago
Magnetic crystals provide the earliest evidence yet of the plate tectonics that likely made Earth habitable, pushing its start back by 140 million years.
- Microbes
How warming is shifting microbial worlds
Climate change is affecting microbes, and that has implications for all life on Earth.
- Earth
To make a ‘Snowball Earth,’ sci-fi moves fast. Geology is far slower
The Day After Tomorrow, Snowpiercer, Snowball Earth: Such end-of-days visions of a frozen Earth are fantastical … but can contain a snowflake of truth.
- Climate
City skylines influence cloud formation above them
Satellite data show that U.S. cities have more nighttime cloud cover than nearby countryside, and building height and density help explain why.
- Climate
Extreme heat is cutting the time people can safely be active outdoors
Heat and humidity now severely limit light physical activity for millions of people around the world, with older adults facing the greatest burden.
- Climate
Why we fail to notice climate change
People quickly normalize extreme weather. Simple visuals highlighting abrupt change could help climate change break through our mental blind spots.
- Plants
Tree tops sparkle with electricity during thunderstorms
Ultraviolet cameras captured faint electrical flashes from leaves and branches as storm charges built up in the atmosphere.
