Earth

  1. Ecosystems

    Simple hand-built structures can help streams survive wildfires and drought

    Building simple structures with sticks and stones — and inviting in dam-building beavers — can keep water where it’s needed to fight drought and wildfires.

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  2. Earth

    Phosphorus for Earth’s earliest life may have been forged by lightning

    Lightning strikes can supply one of life’s essential elements, long thought to be delivered by meteorites billions of years ago.

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  3. Archaeology

    A tour of ‘Four Lost Cities’ reveals modern ties to ancient people

    In the book 'Four Lost Cities,' author Annalee Newitz uses cities of the past to show what might happen to cities in the future.

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  4. Environment

    The world wasted nearly 1 billion metric tons of food in 2019

    A new United Nations global food waste report shows where waste can be reduced, which would decrease hunger and greenhouse gas emissions.

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  5. Animals

    A year after Australia’s wildfires, extinction threatens hundreds of species

    As experts piece together a fuller picture of the scale of damage to wildlife, more than 500 species may need to be listed as endangered.

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  6. Earth

    To understand how ‘night-shining’ clouds form, scientists made one themselves

    A rocket, a bathtub’s worth of water and a high-altitude explosion reveal how water vapor cools the air to form shiny ice-crystal clouds.

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  7. Environment

    ‘Green’ burials are slowly gaining ground among environmentalists

    Researchers asked older environmental activists what they planned to do with their bodies after death. Many were unaware of “green” burial options.

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  8. Paleontology

    Climate change helped some dinosaurs migrate to Greenland

    A drop in CO2 levels helped massive plant eaters called sauropodomorphs trek from South America to Greenland 214 million years ago, says a new study.

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  9. Earth

    Color-coded radar maps reveal a patchwork of California wildfire destruction

    A composite made up of fine-scale vegetation maps from different years lets researchers track the story of plant loss and regrowth around Los Angeles.

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  10. Earth

    A magnetic field reversal 42,000 years ago may have contributed to mass extinctions

    The weakening of Earth's magnetic field beginning around 42,000 years ago correlates with a cascade of environmental crises, scientists say.

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  11. Plants

    Modified genes can distort wild cotton’s interactions with insects

    In a Yucatan nature park, engineered genes influence nectar production, affecting ants’ and maybe pollinators’ attraction to the wild cotton plants.

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  12. Earth

    Fin whale songs can reveal hidden features of the ocean floor

    Fin whale calls can penetrate into Earth’s crust, offering scientists a new way to study the properties of the ocean floor.

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