7,733 results
- Earth
Fossil mimics may be more common in ancient rocks than actual fossils
Evidence of early life may be harder to preserve than pseudofossils — structures that form abiotically but resemble living remnants.
- Climate
Hurricanes may not be becoming more frequent, but they’re still more dangerous
A new study suggests that there aren’t more hurricanes now than there were roughly 150 years ago.
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Shaking up Earth
Plate tectonics explained geologic wonders and natural hazards – and sparked questions about past and future life.
- Animals
How researchers can keep birds safe as U.S. wind farms expand
Tracking bald eagle abundance and migrating whooping cranes provides a clearer picture of where wind turbines could be safely built.
- Earth
Haiti’s citizen seismologists helped track its devastating quake in real time
Two scientists explain how citizen scientists and their work could help provide a better understanding of Haiti’s seismic hazards.
- Planetary Science
A century of astronomy revealed Earth’s place in the universe
The past century of astronomy has been a series of revolutions, each one kicking Earth a bit farther to the margins.
- Life
Flamboyant fishes evolved an explosion of color as seas rose and fell
Fluctuations in sea level due to cycling ice ages may have powered an engine in tropical seas that pumped out gaudy fish species.
- Archaeology
Stone Age culture bloomed inland, not just along Africa’s coasts
Homo sapiens living more than 600 kilometers from the coast around 105,000 years ago collected crystals that may have had ritual meaning.
- Earth
An enormous supervolcano may be hiding under Alaskan islands
A geologic game of connect the dots reveals hints that Mount Cleveland, the Aleutians’ most active volcano, may sit on a giant undersea crater.
- Paleontology
The dinosaur-killing asteroid impact radically altered Earth’s tropical forests
The asteroid impact fundamentally reset the nature of Earth’s tropical rainforests, decreasing diversity at first and making them permanently darker.
- Space
Crushed space rocks hint at exoplanets’ early atmospheric makeup
Experiments that heat crushed-up meteorites are helping astronomers understand what to look for in exoplanet atmospheres.
- Science & Society
2,500 years ago, the philosopher Anaxagoras brought science’s spirit to Athens
Natural philosopher Anaxagoras promoted the view that phenomena should be explained by natural processes, not attributed to the actions of the gods.
