Earth
- Genetics
Sweet potatoes might have arrived in Polynesia long before humans
Genetic analysis suggests that sweet potatoes were present in Polynesia over 100,000 years ago, and didn’t need help crossing the Pacific.
- Oceans
Ocean heat waves are becoming more common and lasting longer
Over the last 100 years, the world’s oceans have sweltered through a rising number of heat waves.
- Environment
Microplastics may enter freshwater and soil via compost
Compost is pinpointed as a source of plastic pollution, but environmental fate and effects unknown.
- Paleontology
This ancient lizard may have watched the world through four eyes
A lizard that lived 50 million years ago had both a third and a fourth eye.
- Earth
Efforts to contain Mississippi floods may have made them worse
Intensive management of the Mississippi River has increased the size of its largest floods, suggests a new study.
- Health & Medicine
Are we ready for the deadly heat waves of the future?
As heat waves become more common, cities try to respond.
- Climate
Seafloor map shows why Greenland’s glaciers melt at different rates
A new high-res look at the seafloor shows how ledges and dips affects whether relatively warm ocean water reaches the ice.
- Earth
Powerful New England quake recorded in pond mud
The newfound sediment signature of the 1755 Cape Ann earthquake could be used to trace other prehistoric temblors.
- Animals
Humpback whale bumps have marine biologists stumped
Christine Gabriele is taking tissue samples from humpback whales in Hawaii to determine why more and more have nodular dermatitis.
- Science & Society
How past disasters can help us prepare for the future
In The Big Ones, seismologist Lucy Jones examines the science behind some of the most catastrophic natural disasters in human history.
- Environment
How bees defend against some controversial insecticides
Some bees have enzymes that allow them to resist toxic compounds in some neonicotinoid pesticides.
- Science & Society
Why it’s great to have a geologist in the house
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute enthuses about learning how ancient plans may have helped make Earth muddy.
