Feature
- Climate
Wildfires make their own weather, and that matters for fire management
Mathematical equations describing interactions between wildfires and the air around them help explain their power and destruction.
- Agriculture
How plant microbes could feed the world and save endangered species
Scientists have only scratched the surface of the plant microbiome, but they already believe it might increase crop yield and save species from extinction.
- Ecosystems
A freshwater, saltwater tug-of-war is eating away at the Everglades
Saltwater is winning in the Everglades as sea levels rise and years of redirecting freshwater flow to support agriculture and population growth
- Life
More than 2 billion people lack safe drinking water. That number will only grow.
By 2050, half the world’s population may no longer have safe water to drink or grow food. What then?
- Climate
As waters rise, coastal megacities like Mumbai face catastrophe
For coastal megacities like Mumbai, rising seas and weather chaos linked with climate change threaten economic and social disaster.
- Earth
Why sea level rise varies from place to place
The impact of global sea level rise varies regionally, thanks to these factors.
- Astronomy
How the Parker probe was built to survive close encounters with the sun
Scientists had to get creative in testing the technology for the Parker Solar Probe, using huge mirrors, dust tunnels and even reams of paper.
- Anthropology
Conflict reigns over the history and origins of money
Thousands of years ago, money took different forms as a means of debt payment, archaeologists and anthropologists say.
- Science & Society
People are bad at spotting fake news. Can computer programs do better?
Fake news–finding algorithms could someday make up the front lines of online fact checking.
- Health & Medicine
The brain may clean out Alzheimer’s plaques during sleep
Sleep deprivation may speed up development of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Astronomy
The ecosystem that controls a galaxy’s future is coming into focus
An invisible cloak called the circumgalactic medium controls a galaxy’s life and death.
- Health & Medicine
How to make CAR-T cell therapies for cancer safer and more effective
CAR-T cell therapy was approved by the FDA in late 2017. Now, scientists are working to tame the cancer treatment’s side effects.
