Earth

Earth

This iconic Humboldt map may need crucial updates

A seminal, 212-year-old diagram of Andean plants by German explorer Alexander von Humboldt is still groundbreaking — but outdated, researchers say.

Environment

Emissions of a banned ozone-destroying chemical have been traced to China

Since 2013, eastern China has increased its annual emissions of a banned chlorofluorocarbon by about 7,000 metric tons, a study finds.

Earth

Only a third of Earth’s longest rivers still run free

Mapping millions of kilometers of waterways shows that just 37 percent of rivers longer than 1,000 kilometers remain unchained by human activities.

Archaeology

Ancient South American populations dipped due to an erratic climate

Scientists link bouts of intense rainfall and drought around 8,600 to 6,000 years ago to declining numbers of South American hunter-gatherers.

Life

1 million species are under threat. Here are 5 ways we speed up extinctions

One million of the world’s plant and animal species are now under threat of extinction, a new report finds.

Earth

The search for new geologic sources of lithium could power a clean future

Futuristic clean-energy visions of electric vehicles are driving the hunt for lithium.

Earth

A belly full of wriggling worms makes wood beetles better recyclers

Common beetles that eat rotten logs chew up more wood when filled with a roundworm larvae, releasing nutrients more quickly back to the forest floor.

Agriculture

Can Silicon Valley entrepreneurs make crickets the next chicken?

Entrepreneurs are bringing automation and data analysis to insect agriculture to build a profitable business that helps feed the planet.

Earth

Dry sand can bubble and swirl like a fluid

Put two types of sand grains together in a chamber, and they can flow like fluids under the right conditions.

Physics

Here’s what causes the aurora-like glow known as STEVE

Amateur astronomer images and satellite data are revealing what causes the strange atmospheric glow called STEVE.

Animals

Endangered green sea turtles may be making a comeback in the U.S. Pacific

The numbers of green sea turtles spotted around Hawaii, American Samoa and the Mariana Islands have increased in the last decade.

Microbes

A global survey finds that the Arctic Ocean is a hot spot for viruses

Scientists mapped virus diversity around the world’s oceans. That knowledge may be key to making better climate simulations.