Earth

Environment

Mangrove forests expand and contract with a lunar cycle

The carbon-sequestering trees grow in a roughly 18-year cycle according to tides influenced by the moon’s orbit, a study in Australia finds.

Earth

Here’s how olivine may trigger deep earthquakes

Olivine’s transformation into another mineral can destabilize rocks and set off quakes more than 300 kilometers down, experiments suggest.

Climate

How Kenyans help themselves and the planet by saving mangrove trees

Communities in Kenya took action to restore their coastal mangrove forests, reaping economic and environmental benefits. Others are following suit.

Planetary Science

Passing through the Milky Way’s arms may have helped form Earth’s solid ground

Barrages of comets stirred up by the early solar system’s journey around the center of the galaxy could explain the timing of ancient rock formation.

Climate

How to make recyclable plastics out of CO₂ to slow climate change

Companies are turning atmospheric CO2 from smokestacks and landfills into plastics to shrink their carbon footprint.

Climate

A carbon footprint life cycle assessment can cut down on greenwashing

As companies try to reduce their carbon footprint, many are doing life cycle assessments to quantify the full carbon cost of their products.

Climate

A coral pollution study unexpectedly helped explain Hurricane Maria’s fury

Tracking coral reef pollution in Puerto Rico, conservation researchers discovered by chance how the coastal ocean fueled Hurricane Maria.

Earth

In 2021, a deadly volcano erupted with no warning. Here’s why

Before the Nyiragongo eruption, underground magma was already close to the surface and so didn’t trigger instruments that look for lava movement.

Earth

The Tonga eruption may have spawned a tsunami as tall as the Statue of Liberty

A massive undersea volcanic eruption in the South Pacific in January created a tsunami that was initially 90 meters tall, computer simulations suggest.

Science & Society

A new seasoning smells like meat thanks to sugar — and mealworms

A spoonful of sugars could help cooked mealworms go down more easily, a potential boon for the planet.

Earth

Not one, but two asteroids might have slain the dinosaurs

A craterlike structure found off West Africa’s coast might have been formed by an asteroid impact around the same time the dinosaurs went extinct.

Animals

Extreme climate shifts long ago may have helped drive reptile evolution

The end-Permian extinction left reptiles plenty of open ecological niches. But rapid climate change may be what kick-started the animals’ dominance.