Earth

Earth

Glass bits, charcoal hint at 56-million-year-old space rock impact

Glassy debris and the burnt remains of wildfires suggest that a large space rock hit Earth near the start of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum warming event around 56 million years ago.

Animals

Barnacles track whale migration

The mix of oxygen isotopes in the shells of barnacles that latch on to baleen whales may divulge how whale migration routes have changed over millions of years.

Climate

Methane didn’t warm ancient Earth, new simulations suggest

Scarce oxygen and abundant sulfate prevented methane from accumulating enough to keep Earth warm hundreds of millions of years ago, reviving the faint young sun paradox.

Earth

Nuclear blasts, other human activity signal new epoch, group argues

A group of scientists will formally propose the human-defined Anthropocene as a new epoch in Earth’s geologic history within a few years, probably pegging the start date to nuclear tests.

Earth

Natural ally against global warming not as strong as thought

Soils may take in far less carbon by the end of the century than previously predicted, exacerbating climate change.

Genetics

Single exodus from Africa gave rise to today’s non-Africans

Genetics and climate studies differ on when modern humans left Africa.

Oceans

Melissa Omand’s clever tech follows the fate of ocean carbon

Drawn to the water early, oceanographer Melissa Omand now leads research cruises studying how carbon and nutrients move through the seas.

Ecosystems

Shrinking sea ice threatens natural highways for caribou, plants

As Arctic sea ice declines, Peary caribou or plants risk getting stranded when their frozen highways thaw.

Earth

Primordial continental crust re‑created in lab

Compressing rocks from an ocean plateau at high temperatures and pressures re-creates the formation of Earth’s first continental crust.

Climate

Arctic sea ice shrinks to second-lowest low on record

A warm summer helped shrink sea ice in the Arctic Ocean to a statistical tie with 2007 for the second smallest sea ice minimum on record.

Oceans

First U.S. ocean monument named in the Atlantic

A region of ocean off the coast of Cape Cod has become the first U.S. marine national monument in the Atlantic Ocean, President Barack Obama announced.

Animals

Sandboxes keep chicken parasites at bay

Fluffing feathers in sand and dust prevents severe mite infections in cage-free hens.