Earth
- Earth
4.1-billion-year-old crystal may hold earliest signs of life
New evidence suggests that life on Earth arose before 4.1 billion years ago, 300 million years earlier than previous estimates.
- Paleontology
New evidence weakens case against climate in woolly mammoths’ death
Hunters responsible for woolly mammoths’ extinction, suggests a chemical analysis of juveniles’ tusks.
- Climate
High-flying birds recruited for meteorology
Monitoring the midflight movements of high-flying birds can provide valuable meteorological data, new research shows.
- Environment
Air pollutants enter body through skin
Although scientists have largely viewed skin as an unimportant portal to blood for toxic air pollutants, new human data show that skin can surpass lungs as a route of entry.
- Earth
Surface spills near fracking sites implicated in water contamination
Chemical spills from fracking operations are the likely source of chemicals found in drinking water wells in northeastern Pennsylvania.
- Oceans
Oxygen in Black Sea has declined by more than a third since 1955
The Black Sea’s oxygen-rich surface layer shrank by more than a third from 1955 through 2013, compressing marine habitats and bringing toxic hydrogen sulfide closer to the surface.
- Animals
Jumping conchs triumph at overheated athletics
“Simple” circulatory system outdoes fancier ones in delivering oxygen for jumping conchs in simulated climate change conditions.
- Oceans
Widespread coral bleaching threatens world’s reefs
The world’s corals are experiencing their third major bleaching event in 17 years.
- Animals
What happens to animals in a hurricane?
Hurricanes can be devastating to animals on land and in the sea, but they can also provide opportunities.
- Earth
Giant asteroid may have triggered deadly volcano eruptions
Increased volcanic eruptions coincided much more closely with an asteroid impact and the extinction of the dinosaurs than previously believed, a new study suggests.
- Animals
Some seabirds will be hit hard by sea level rise
Seabird species that nest on low-lying islands in stormy winter months could see huge losses as sea levels rise, a new study finds.
- Animals
Life in the polar ocean is surprisingly active in the dark winter
The Arctic polar winter may leave marine ecosystems dark for weeks on end, but life doesn’t shut down, a new study finds.
