Earth

  1. Plants

    Big genetics study blazes path for bringing back tomato flavor

    Combining taste tests with genetics suggests what makes heirloom varieties tastier than mass-market tomatoes.

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  2. Earth

    Devastation detectives try to solve dinosaur disappearance

    Dinosaurs and others faced massive losses 66 million years ago from an asteroid impact, volcanic eruptions or maybe a mix of the two.

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  3. Environment

    Humans’ stuff vastly outweighs humans

    The human-made technosphere weighs 30 trillion tons and surpasses the natural biosphere in mass and diversity, researchers estimate.

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  4. Climate

    Earth’s last major warm period was as hot as today

    Sea surface temperatures today are comparable to those around 125,000 years ago, a time when sea levels were 6 to 9 meters higher, new research suggests.

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  5. Climate

    Monsoon deluges turned ancient Sahara green

    The ancient Sahara Desert sprouted trees and lakes for thousands of years thanks to intense rainfall.

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  6. Climate

    For three years in a row, Earth breaks heat record

    Spurred by climate change and heat from a strong El Niño, 2016 was the hottest year on record.

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  7. Earth

    Coastal waters were an oxygen oasis 2.3 billion years ago

    Coastal waters contained enough oxygen to support complex life-forms including some animals hundreds of millions of years before fossils of such life first appear.

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  8. Climate

    Petrified tree rings tell ancient tale of sun’s behavior

    The 11-year cycle of solar activity may have been around for at least 290 million years, ancient tree rings suggest.

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  9. Earth

    Mapping the future of continents and batteries

    Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses how science provides new perspectives on the past and the future.

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  10. Earth

    Evidence falls into place for once and future supercontinents

    Shifting landmasses have repeatedly reshaped Earth’s surface. Researchers piecing together the past are now picturing a new supercontinent, due in 250 million years.

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  11. Earth

    Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf nears breaking point

    A fast-growing crack in Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf could soon break off a 5,000-square-kilometer hunk of ice into the ocean.

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  12. Earth

    Antarctic ice shelf heading toward collapse

    A fast-growing crack in Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf could soon break off a 5,000-square-kilometer hunk of ice into the ocean.

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