Earth

  1. Climate

    Extreme lightning events set records

    A lightning flash stretching 321 kilometers across and one that lasted 7.74 seconds have been named the most extreme events on record, thanks to a new rule change.

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  2. Life

    Ocean archaea more vulnerable to deep-sea viruses than bacteria

    Deep-sea viruses kill archaea disproportionately more often than bacteria, a killing spree with important impacts on the global carbon cycle.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    50 years ago, noise was a nuisance (it still is)

    In 1966, scientists warned of the physical and psychological dangers of a louder world.

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  4. Animals

    Bees take longer to learn floral odors polluted by vehicle fumes

    Car and truck exhaust mingling with a floral scent can slow down the important process of honeybees learning the fragrance of a flower.

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  5. Oceans

    Atlantic monument is home to unique and varied creatures

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

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  6. Earth

    Seismologists surprised by deep California quakes

    Small earthquakes detected along the Newport-Inglewood Fault originate from deeper underground than once thought possible.

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  7. Science & Society

    Sometimes failure is the springboard to success

    Editor in chief Eva Emerson discusses scientific discoveries that resulted from failures large and small.

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  8. Physics

    A metallic odyssey, what’s causing sunspots and more reader feedback

    Metallic hydrogen, sunspot formation, salty desalination leftovers and more in reader feedback.

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  9. Planetary Science

    Rock hounds are on the hunt for new carbon minerals

    The race is on to find about 140 predicted carbon-based minerals in locations around the world. Map included.

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  10. 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.

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  11. 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.

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  12. 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.

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