Earth

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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Physics

    Here’s how we might generate electricity from rain

    Water drops produce electricity when dripped through a small tube. That power might be harnessed as renewable energy in rainy places.

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  2. Oceans

    How will the LA fires affect the ocean? These researchers are racing to find out

    Scientists aboard a research vessel near Los Angeles collected ash, air and water samples as fire blazed on the hills before them in January.

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  3. Earth

    The United States’ oldest known rock has existed for at least 3.6 billion years

    More than just a cool bit of trivia, the finding raises questions about our understanding of Earth’s history.

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  4. Climate

    Wetland bacteria could make more methane in a warming world

    Warming temperatures can ramp up the activity of methane-producing bacteria in wetland soils, adding to methane emissions.

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  5. Climate

    Earth’s landmasses lost trillions of tons of water this century

    Rising global temperatures are driving the sharp decline in terrestrial water storage. This trend isn’t likely to change, scientists say.

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  6. Climate

    Hidden Antarctic lakes could supercharge sea level rise

    An overlooked Antarctic water system could raise sea levels by more than 2 meters by 2300, computer simulations show.

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  7. Environment

    Fires in the Amazon forest may melt sea ice in Antarctica

    Satellite data reveal a link between the amount of black carbon in the atmosphere and rates of Antarctic sea ice loss in recent years.

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  8. Artificial Intelligence

    Spotting climate misinformation with AI requires expertly trained models

    When classifying climate misinformation, general-purpose large language models lag behind models trained on expert-curated climate data.

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  9. Climate

    A lush, green Arabian Desert may have once linked Africa and Asia

    Mineral formations in caves reveal recurring periods of humidity in the Arabian Desert over the last 8 million years.

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  10. Climate

    Solar geoengineering moves into the spotlight as climate concerns grow

    As global temperatures rise, scientists debate the pros and cons of solar geoengineering, a strategy to cool Earth by reflecting sunlight into space.

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  11. Earth

    The ozone layer shields life on Earth. We’ll soon lose a key way to monitor its health

    Imminent loss of NASA's Aura and Canada's SCISAT will severely diminish scientists’ ability to monitor ozone-depleting substances in the stratosphere.

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  12. Earth

    More details about the Myanmar earthquake are emerging

    A phenomenon called liquefaction, which causes the ground to slump like quicksand, led to significant damage after the Myanmar earthquake. The risk of aftershock remains high.

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