All Stories by Carolyn Gramling
- Animals
Penguin poop spotted from space ups the tally of emperor penguin colonies
High-res satellite images reveal eight new breeding sites for the world’s largest penguins on Antarctica, including the first reported ones offshore.
- Oceans
These ancient seafloor microbes woke up after over 100 million years
Scientists discover that microbes that had lain dormant in the seafloor for millions of years can revive and multiply.
- Earth
COVID-19 lockdowns dramatically reduced seismic noise from humans
Human-caused seismic activity was reduced by as much as 50 percent around the globe during lockdowns as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Paleontology
This dinosaur may have shed its feathers like modern songbirds
One of the earliest flying dinosaurs, the four-winged Microraptor, may have molted just a bit at a time so that it could fly year-round.
- Climate
Climate change made Siberia’s heat wave at least 600 times more likely
Siberia’s six-month heat wave during the first half of 2020 would not have happened without human-caused climate change, researchers find.
- Earth
Earth’s annual e-waste could grow to 75 million metric tons by 2030
Unwanted electronic waste is piling up rapidly around the globe, while collection and recycling efforts are failing to keep pace, a new report shows.
- Climate
4 ways to put the 100-degree Arctic heat record in context
June’s record heat in Siberia is part of a much bigger picture of dramatic climate change in the Arctic.
- Earth
Two lightning megaflashes shattered distance and duration records
Satellite data show that the two extreme bolts, both appearing over South America, more than doubled the previous records.
- Climate
A Siberian town hit 100 degrees, setting a new record for the Arctic Circle
Verkhoyansk’s high temperature, which has yet to be confirmed, follows a six-month period of record heat in the region.
- Earth
Machine learning helped demystify a California earthquake swarm
Computer algorithms helped scientists find that circulating groundwater probably triggered a four-year-long series of tiny quakes in Southern California.
- Life
Fossil footprints show some crocodile ancestors walked on two legs
The 106-million-year-old tracks suggest that other puzzling nearby fossils were also likely made by a bipedal croc ancestor, not a giant pterosaur.
- Climate
Rapid sea level rise could drown protective mangrove forests by 2100
Mangroves have kept up with rising water so far, but new research reveals their limits.
