Earth

Oceans

Here’s where 17,000 ocean research buoys ended up

A combined look at 35 years’ worth of ocean buoy movements reveals the currents that feed into ocean garbage patches.

Earth

Remnants from Earth’s birth linger 4.5 billion years later

Shaken, not stirred: Tungsten isotopes reveal that mantle convection has left some remnants of ancient Earth untouched for 4.5 billion years.

Environment

When measuring lead in water, check the temperature

Lead contamination in drinking water can be much higher during summer than winter, new research suggests.

Environment

U.S. oil and gas boom behind rising ethane levels

Oil and gas operations on North Dakota’s Bakken shale are largely to blame for a recent rise in global emissions of the greenhouse gas ethane, researchers conclude.

Plants

Here’s what a leaf looks like during a fatal attack of bubbles

Office equipment beats synchrotrons in showing how drought lets air bubbles kill the water-carrier network of veins in plant leaves.

Animals

Cause of mass starfish die-offs is still a mystery

Sea stars off the U.S. west coast started dying off en masse in 2013. Scientists are still struggling to figure out the cause.

Earth

Rainwater can help trigger earthquakes

Rainwater plays a major role in the triggering of earthquakes along New Zealand’s Alpine Fault.

Climate

Fizzled 2014 El Niño fired up ongoing monster El Niño

The ongoing El Niño, one of the strongest on record, got a heat boost from a 2014 event that failed due to unfavorable winds.

Agriculture

Bacterium still a major source of crop pesticide

Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria have provided pest-fighting toxins for over 50 years.

Planetary Science

How alien can a planet be and still support life?

Geoscientists imagine the unearthly mechanisms that could keep alien planets habitable.

Animals

Scientists find a crab party deep in the ocean

A trip to check out the biodiversity off the coast of Panama revealed thousands of crabs swarming on the seafloor.

Climate

Wildfire shifts could dump more ice-melting soot in Arctic

Wildfires will emit more soot into the air in many regions by the end of the century, new simulations show.