Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Oceans
Cone snails wander in circles, lose focus with boosted CO2
Deadly cone snails wander in circles and become less capable hunters when exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide in seawater.
- Earth
3-billion-year-old crystals hint at lost continent’s fate
Zircon crystals from a long-gone continent called Mauritia may have resurfaced during volcanic eruptions on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
- Oceans
Climate change may boost toxic mercury levels in sea life
Increased runoff to the ocean due to climate change could raise neurotoxic mercury in coastal sea life by disrupting the base of the food web.
- Plants
Big genetics study blazes path for bringing back tomato flavor
Combining taste tests with genetics suggests what makes heirloom varieties tastier than mass-market tomatoes.
- Earth
Devastation detectives try to solve dinosaur disappearance
Dinosaurs and others faced massive losses 66 million years ago from an asteroid impact, volcanic eruptions or maybe a mix of the two.
- Environment
Humans’ stuff vastly outweighs humans
The human-made technosphere weighs 30 trillion tons and surpasses the natural biosphere in mass and diversity, researchers estimate.
- Climate
Earth’s last major warm period was as hot as today
Sea surface temperatures today are comparable to those around 125,000 years ago, a time when sea levels were 6 to 9 meters higher, new research suggests.
- Climate
Monsoon deluges turned ancient Sahara green
The ancient Sahara Desert sprouted trees and lakes for thousands of years thanks to intense rainfall.
- Climate
For three years in a row, Earth breaks heat record
Spurred by climate change and heat from a strong El Niño, 2016 was the hottest year on record.
- Earth
Coastal waters were an oxygen oasis 2.3 billion years ago
Coastal waters contained enough oxygen to support complex life-forms including some animals hundreds of millions of years before fossils of such life first appear.
- Climate
Petrified tree rings tell ancient tale of sun’s behavior
The 11-year cycle of solar activity may have been around for at least 290 million years, ancient tree rings suggest.
- Earth
Mapping the future of continents and batteries
Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses how science provides new perspectives on the past and the future.
