Earth
- Life
See the wonders of two newfound deep-sea coral reefs off the Galápagos
Coral reefs around the world are in trouble. But these reefs in the Galápagos Island Marine Reserve have yet to be damaged by humans.
- Animals
Pumping cold water into rivers could act as ‘air conditioning’ for fish
Hundreds of salmon, trout and other fish sought shelter from summer heat in human-made shelters, suggesting a way to help fish adapt to river warming.
- Plants
Berkley Walker wants to revamp photosynthesis for a changing climate
Finding ways to make plants work better could help feed a growing population, especially as the planet warms.
- Climate
50 years ago, scientists warned of the ‘neglected dangers’ of heat islands
In 1973, scientists knew temperatures in cities were higher than in rural areas. Now, some cities are attempting to cool down with engineering.
- Life
10 billion snow crabs have disappeared off the Alaskan coast. Here’s why
In the eastern Bering Sea, the snow crab population plummeted after a marine heat wave in 2018. The crabs may have starved, a new study finds.
- Climate
Róisín Commane sleuths out greenhouse gas leaks to fight climate change
From New York City to the Arctic, atmospheric chemist Róisín Commane tries to account for the greenhouse gases in the air.
- Animals
A global report finds amphibians are still in peril. But it’s not all bad news
A survey of about 8,000 amphibian species provides the latest update on extinction risk trends stretching back to 1980.
- Animals
In noisy environs, pied tamarins are using smell more often to communicate
Groups of the primate, native to Brazil, complement vocalizations with scent-marking behavior to alert other tamarins to dangers in their urban home.
- Paleontology
New computer analysis hints volcanism killed the dinosaurs, not an asteroid
Scientists take a creative approach to investigating what caused the mass extinction 66 million years ago, but the debate is far from settled.
- Climate
‘Our Fragile Moment’ finds modern lessons in Earth’s history of climate
Michael Mann’s latest book, Our Fragile Moment, looks through Earth’s history to understand the current climate crisis.
- Earth
To form pink diamonds, build and destroy a supercontinent
The Argyle deposit in Australia formed about 1.3 billion years ago, a study shows, along a rift zone that sundered the supercontinent Nuna.
- Physics
A laser gyroscope measured tiny variations in the lengths of days on Earth
An underground gyroscope known as ‘G’ uses laser beams traveling in opposite directions to precisely measure Earth’s rotation.
