Earth

  1. Earth

    Rare earth mining may be key to our renewable energy future. But at what cost?

    We take you inside Mountain Pass, the only rare earth mine in the United States.

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  2. Earth

    Indigenous people may have created the Amazon’s ‘dark earth’ on purpose

    Modern Amazonians make nutrient-rich soil from ash, food scraps and burns. The soil strongly resembles ancient dark soils found in the region.

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  3. Climate

    Extreme weather in 2022 showed the global impact of climate change

    Heat waves, floods, wildfires and drought around the world were exacerbated by Earth’s changing climate.

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  4. Earth

    No, Yellowstone isn’t about to erupt, even after more magma was found

    A new study offers the best views yet of what lurks beneath the Yellowstone supervolcano.

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  5. Climate

    2022’s biggest climate change bill pushes clean energy

    Experts weigh in on the pros and cons of the United States’ first major climate change legislation, the Inflation Reduction Act, signed this year.

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  6. Earth

    The Hunga Tonga volcano eruption touched space and spawned a lightning blitz

    The eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in the Pacific Ocean earlier this year was one for the record books — in several surprising ways.

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  7. Earth

    Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano is erupting. Here’s what you need to know

    A geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey answers questions about the recent eruption of the world's largest active volcano.

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  8. Animals

    Dry pet food may be more environmentally friendly than wet food

    The environmental cost of wet pet food is higher than dry food, scientists say. That may be because wet food gets most of its calories from animals.

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  9. Health & Medicine

    Pollution mucks up the lungs’ immune defenses over time

    A study of immune tissue in the lungs reports that particulate matter buildup from air pollution may impair respiratory immunity in older adults.

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  10. Animals

    These devices use an electric field to scare sharks from fishing hooks

    SharkGuard gadgets work by harnessing sharks’ ability to detect electric fields. That could save the animals’ lives, a study suggests.

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  11. Ecosystems

    Tiger sharks helped discover the world’s largest seagrass prairie

    Instrument-equipped sharks went where divers couldn’t to survey the Bahama Banks seagrass ecosystem.

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  12. Humans

    The world population has now reached 8 billion

    In a first, the global population surpassed this milestone on November 15, according to a projection from the United Nations.

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