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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Earth

    Scientists predict an undersea volcano eruption near Oregon in 2025

    Real-time data from Axial Seamount off the Oregon coast is providing researchers with a good eruption forecasting test.

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  2. Science & Society

    These are the 5 most popular Science News stories of 2024

    Science News drew millions of visitors to our website this year. Here’s a recap of the most-read and most-watched news stories of 2024.

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  3. Life

    These scientific feats set new records in 2024

    Noteworthy findings include jumbo black hole jets, an ultrapetite frog, ancient asteroid remnants and more.

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  4. Earth

    Earth’s inner core may be changing shape

    Earthquake data suggest that all or small patches of the inner core's surface may be swelling and contracting.

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  5. Earth

    The 2004 tsunami killed hundreds of thousands. Are we better prepared now?

    Twenty years after the deadliest wave in recorded history, most oceans have warning systems and communities have learned how best to escape the danger.

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  6. Artificial Intelligence

    Generative AI is an energy hog. Is the tech worth the environmental cost?

    Generative AI and the hype around it has rung in excitement and alarm bells this year. Here’s how to consider climate, energy and AI's intersection.

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  7. Climate

    Climate change made 2024 the hottest year on record. The heat was deadly

    Heat waves fueled by climate change killed scores of people and upended daily life. Here are some of those stories.

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  8. Plants

    Meet a scientist tracking cactus poaching in the Atacama Desert

    Botanist Pablo Guerrero has been visiting Atacama cacti all his life. They’re not adapting well to a drier climate, booming mining and plant collection.

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  9. Animals

    Climate stress may undermine male spiders’ romantic gift giving

    Even spider love lives show an effect of climate uncertainty: Stressed males may offer a bit of silk-wrapped junk rather than a tasty insect treat.

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  10. Ecosystems

    New videos reveal the hidden lives of Andean bears

    The footage give clues to the range of plants the bears eat and how they mate, information important for conservation.

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  11. Climate

    An unexpected ice collapse hints at worrying changes on the Antarctic coast

    The Conger Ice Shelf disintegrated in 2022. Satellite data leading up to the collapse hint at worrying changes in a supposedly stable ice sheet.

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  12. Climate

    From electric cars to wildfires, how Trump may affect climate actions

    Trump’s first term, campaign pledges and nominees point to how efforts to address climate change and environmental issues may fare.

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