Earth
- Animals
Here’s the real story on jellyfish taking over the world
In 'Spineless,' a former marine scientist reconnects with the seas and science through her obsession with these enigmatic creatures.
- Earth
A deadly 2014 landslide’s power came from soils weakened by past slides
Researchers reconstruct how a hillside failed, producing the deadly 2014 Oso landslide.
- Animals
Climate change may threaten these bamboo-eating lemurs
Longer dry spells and more nutrient-poor bamboo might eventually doom the greater bamboo lemur, a critically endangered species.
By Susan Milius - Climate
As ice retreats, frozen mosses emerge to tell climate change tale
Plants long entombed beneath Canadian ice are now emerging, telling a story of warming unprecedented in the history of human civilization.
- Life
A new material may one day keep mussels off piers and boat hulls
Mussels don’t stick to a new lubricant-infused silicone material.
- Climate
‘Killer Hurricanes’ reconstructs the past to predict storms of the future
Geologists find clues to the future of deadly hurricanes, written in stone and sand, in the new NOVA documentary “Killer Hurricanes.”
- Environment
Pollution killed 9 million people in 2015
First global look estimates the massive human and financial toll caused by pollution-related health problems.
By Laura Beil - Earth
How volcanoes may have ended the dynasty of Ptolemy and Cleopatra
Volcanic ash in polar ice reveal a link between eruptions and the timing of revolts in Cleopatra’s Egypt.
- Oceans
Here’s a breakdown of the animals that crossed the Pacific on 2011 tsunami debris
Hundreds of marine animals from Japan have washed up on U.S. beaches since the destructive 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
- Earth
When the Larsen C ice shelf broke, it exposed a hidden world
Scientists plan urgent missions to visit the world the Larsen C iceberg left behind.
- Climate
During El Niño, the tropics emit more carbon dioxide
El Niño increases carbon emissions from the tropics — mimicking future climate change.
- Animals
New deep-sea sponge could play a starring role in monitoring ocean health
A new species of sponge that dwells on metal-rich rocks could help scientists track the environmental impact of deep-sea mining.