Earth

  1. Plants

    Berkley Walker wants to revamp photosynthesis for a changing climate

    Finding ways to make plants work better could help feed a growing population, especially as the planet warms.

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  2. Climate

    50 years ago, scientists warned of the ‘neglected dangers’ of heat islands

    In 1973, scientists knew temperatures in cities were higher than in rural areas. Now, some cities are attempting to cool down with engineering.

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  3. Life

    10 billion snow crabs have disappeared off the Alaskan coast. Here’s why

    In the eastern Bering Sea, the snow crab population plummeted after a marine heat wave in 2018. The crabs may have starved, a new study finds.

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  4. Climate

    Róisín Commane sleuths out greenhouse gas leaks to fight climate change

    From New York City to the Arctic, atmospheric chemist Róisín Commane tries to account for the greenhouse gases in the air.

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  5. Animals

    A global report finds amphibians are still in peril. But it’s not all bad news

    A survey of about 8,000 amphibian species provides the latest update on extinction risk trends stretching back to 1980.

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  6. Animals

    In noisy environs, pied tamarins are using smell more often to communicate

    Groups of the primate, native to Brazil, complement vocalizations with scent-marking behavior to alert other tamarins to dangers in their urban home.

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  7. Paleontology

    New computer analysis hints volcanism killed the dinosaurs, not an asteroid

    Scientists take a creative approach to investigating what caused the mass extinction 66 million years ago, but the debate is far from settled.

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  8. Climate

    ‘Our Fragile Moment’ finds modern lessons in Earth’s history of climate

    Michael Mann’s latest book, Our Fragile Moment, looks through Earth’s history to understand the current climate crisis.

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  9. Earth

    To form pink diamonds, build and destroy a supercontinent

    The Argyle deposit in Australia formed about 1.3 billion years ago, a study shows, along a rift zone that sundered the supercontinent Nuna.

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  10. Physics

    A laser gyroscope measured tiny variations in the lengths of days on Earth

    An underground gyroscope known as ‘G’ uses laser beams traveling in opposite directions to precisely measure Earth’s rotation.

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  11. Oceans

    ‘The Deepest Map’ explores the thrills — and dangers — of charting the ocean

    A new book follows the race to map the seafloor, documenting how it’s done, why and what a clear view of the deep sea could mean for Earth’s future.

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  12. Climate

    What’s driving an increasing number of hurricanes to rapidly intensify?

    Hurricane Lee is just the latest storm to explode in power in only hours. The phenomenon is linked to a warming world.

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