7,733 results
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Materials that made us
From our homes and cities to our electronics and clothing, the stuff of daily life is dramatically different from decades ago.
- Earth
Reawakened Yellowstone geyser isn’t a sign of imminent explosion
The 2018 reactivation of Yellowstone’s Steamboat Geyser isn’t a portent of dangerous volcanic or hydrothermal eruptions, scientists say.
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Other worlds
The past century of astronomy has been a series of revolutions, each one kicking Earth a bit farther to the margins of the universe.
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- Humans
Ancient humans may have deliberately voyaged to Japan’s Ryukyu Islands
Satellite-tracked buoys suggest that long ago, a remote Japanese archipelago was reached by explorers on purpose, not accidentally.
- Life
Giant worms may have burrowed into the ancient seafloor to ambush prey
20-million-year-old tunnels unearthed in Taiwan may have been home to creatures that ambushed prey similar to today’s monstrous bobbit worms.
- Humans
Fossils and ancient DNA paint a vibrant picture of human origins
Paleoanthropologists have sketched a rough timeline of how human evolution played out, centering the early action in Africa.
- Climate
Fossil fuel use may emit 40 percent more methane than we thought
Ice cores suggest natural seeps release less methane than was estimated, meaning industry produces nearly all of today’s geologic methane emissions.
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The human story
A century ago, it wasn’t obvious where humans got their start. But decades of fossil discoveries, reinforced by genetic studies, have pointed to Africa as our homeland.
- Space
Here are the highlights from a busy year in space launches
Satellites, Mars rovers and astronauts launched into space in 2020.
- Environment
Why planting tons of trees isn’t enough to solve climate change
Massive projects need much more planning and follow-through to succeed – and other tree protections need to happen too.
- Earth
An asteroid impact, not volcanism, may have made Earth unlivable for dinosaurs
New simulations add to growing evidence that an asteroid strike, rather than the Deccan Traps eruptions, caused the end-Cretaceous extinction.
