Earth
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Life
Climate warms, creatures head for the hills
Unusual data let scientists test predictions that global warming drives species up slopes.
By Susan Milius -
Earth
Lake Superior’s ups and downs
Analyses of trees and other organic material buried in a riverbank near Lake Superior’s northwestern shore shed new light on how much and when the lake level varied soon after the last ice age.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Pterodactyls may soar once more
Paleontologists and aeronautical engineers are designing a reconnaissance drone that will mimic the flight of an ancient flying reptile.
By Sid Perkins -
Humans
Arctic warming chills interest in fishing
Featured blog: An October 7 accord could put U.S. Arctic waters off-limits to fishing.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
World’s largest tsunami debris
Seven immense coral boulders — one of them a three-story-tall, 1,200-metric-ton monster — have been found far inland on a Tongan island and may be the world's largest tsunami debris.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
When trees grew in Antarctica
Fossils of trees that grew in Antarctica millions of years ago suggest a growth pattern much different than modern trees.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Earthquake history recorded in stalagmites
Where stalagmites start and stop in caves could offer more precise clues about when major earthquakes have hit (and could again hit) the Midwest.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
A near-record Arctic melting
This summer, the area covered by Arctic sea ice dropped to its second-lowest since satellite measurements began in 1979.
By Sid Perkins -
Earth
Sea-level history off the ice
For the first time, researchers have assembled a comprehensive record of how sea level varied between 542 million and 251 million years ago, more than doubling previous timelines for such fluctuations.
By Sid Perkins -
Chemistry
Fluorescent bulbs offer mercury advantage
Featured blog: Switching to light bulbs that contain mercury might, surprisingly, reduce overall mercury releases to the environment. Plus, what to do when you break your fluorescent bulb.
By Janet Raloff -
Earth
Tough meteorite made a big impact
The stony meteorite that landed in a remote portion of Peru in September 2007 was traveling abnormally fast when it struck and blasted a crater that was unusually large for the its size, new analyses indicate.
By Sid Perkins