Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Earth’s rarest diamonds form from primordial carbon in the mantle
Chemical analyses of the rarest diamonds suggest the planet’s carbon cycle may not go as deep as scientists thought.
- Environment
This moth may outsmart smog by learning to like pollution-altered aromas
In the lab, scientists taught tobacco hawkmoths that a scent changed by ozone is from a favorite flower.
- Agriculture
How does a crop’s environment shape a food’s smell and taste?
Scientific explorations of terroir — the soil, climate and orientation in which crops grow — hint at influences on flavors and aromas.
- Climate
New maps show how warm water may reach Thwaites Glacier’s icy underbelly
New seafloor maps around Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica reveal how deep channels could help warm ocean water melt the glacier from below.
- Climate
Bering Sea winter ice shrank to its lowest level in 5,500 years in 2018
Peat cores that record five millennia of climate shifts in the Arctic region suggest recent ice loss is linked to rising carbon dioxide levels.
- Earth
What’s behind August 2020’s extreme weather? Climate change and bad luck
On top of a pandemic, the United States is having an epic weather year — a combination of bad luck and a stage set by a warming climate.
- Planetary Science
Earth’s building blocks may have had far more water than previously thought
Space rocks and dust from the inner solar system could have delivered enough water to account for all the H2O in the planet’s mantle.
- Earth
Improved three-week weather forecasts could save lives from disaster
Meteorologists are pushing to make forecasts good enough to fill the gap between short-term and seasonal.
- Earth
Carbon dioxide from Earth’s mantle may trigger some Italian earthquakes
In the central Apennines of Italy, spikes in natural carbon dioxide emissions line up with the biggest earthquakes.
- Earth
50 years ago, scientists clocked the speed of Antarctic ice
Today’s instruments offer a more precise view, and reveal the effects of climate change.
- Earth
Death Valley hits 130° F, the hottest recorded temperature on Earth since 1931
Amid a heat wave in the western United States, California’s Death Valley is back in the record books with the third hottest temperature ever recorded.
- Climate
Hurricanes have names. Some climate experts say heat waves should, too
A newly formed international alliance aims to raise awareness about extreme temperatures and protect vulnerable populations.
