Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Climate
These weather events turned extreme thanks to human-driven climate change
Ruling out natural variability, scientists say several of 2016’s extreme weather events wouldn’t have happened without human-caused climate change.
- Health & Medicine
Fracking linked to low birth weight in Pennsylvania babies
Babies born to moms living within one kilometer of a hydraulic fracturing site were more likely to be born underweight, researchers say.
- Earth
Federal maps underestimate flood risk for tens of millions of people, scientists warn
New flood maps suggest that the U.S. government underestimates how many people live in floodplains.
- Climate
The Larsen C ice shelf break has sparked groundbreaking research
The hubbub over the iceberg that broke off Larsen C may have died down, but scientists are just getting warmed up to study the aftermath.
- Health & Medicine
Worries grow that climate change will quietly steal nutrients from major food crops
Studies show that rice, wheat and other staples could lose proteins and minerals, putting more people at risk of hunger worldwide.
- Earth
Watching this newborn island erode could tell us a lot about Mars
The birth and death of a young volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean may shed light on the origins of volcanoes in Mars’ wetter past.
- Animals
Narwhals react to certain dangers in a really strange way
After escaping a net, narwhals significantly lower their heart rate while diving quickly to get away from humans.
- Science & Society
Would you opt to see the future or decipher the past?
Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill wonders what it would be like if scientists could see into the past and the future.
- Animals
Most blue whales are ‘righties,’ except for this one move
Though many blue whales tend to be “right-handed” when hunting for krill, one specific barrel roll move requires a lefty twist.
- Oceans
In the deep ocean, these bacteria play a key role in trapping carbon
Mysterious nitrite-oxidizing bacteria capture more carbon than previously thought and may be the primary engine at the base of the deep ocean’s food web.
- Earth
What the Pliocene epoch can teach us about future warming on Earth
By simulating the changes that occurred during the warm Pliocene epoch, researchers are trying to predict Earth’s future hundreds of years from now.
- Climate
Climate foiled Europeans’ early exploration of North America
The book ‘A Cold Welcome’ examines how the Little Ice Age and other climatic and geographic factors shaped colonial history.
