Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Erosion has erased most of Earth’s impact craters. Here are the survivors
Earth’s largest known impact crater measures 160 kilometers in diameter. The newest, yet to be confirmed, stretches a still-whopping 31 kilometers.
- Climate
Half a degree stole the climate spotlight in 2018
Climate attribution studies and new data on global warming targets put climate change in the spotlight this year.
- Earth
Greenland crater renewed the debate over an ancient climate mystery
Scientists disagree on what a possible crater found under Greenland’s ice means for the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis.
- Climate
New research may upend what we know about how tornadoes form
New data on the birth of tornadoes suggest that the twisters don’t form from the top down.
- Plants
Hybrid rice engineered with CRISPR can clone its seeds
New research has created self-cloning hybrid rice, raising hopes of higher food production.
- Animals
Nearly 200 Great Barrier Reef coral species also live in the deep sea
There are more coral species lurking in the deep ocean that previously thought. That could be good news for their shallow water counterparts.
- Earth
Here’s what was surprising about Kilauea’s 3-month-long eruption
Researchers revealed new insight into the Hawaiian volcano’s most recent eruption.
- Tech
A new way to turn saltwater fresh can kill germs and avoid gunk buildup
A new device that harnesses sunlight to produce pure vapor from seawater could last longer and produce cleaner water than other technology.
- Climate
The list of extreme weather caused by human-driven climate change grows
The tally of extreme weather events linked to climate change continues to grow, with new studies outlining links to more than a dozen events in 2017.
- Climate
Global carbon dioxide emissions will hit a record high in 2018
Carbon dioxide emissions from China, the United States and India all rose this year, a new report finds.
- Oceans
Volcanic eruptions that depleted ocean oxygen may have set off the Great Dying
Massive eruptions from volcanoes spewing greenhouse gases 252 million years ago may have triggered Earth’s biggest mass extinction.
- Climate
Half the world’s annual rain falls in just 12 days
Climate change could shorten the time it takes for the world to receive half its annual precipitation from 12 days to 11 by 2100.
