Earth
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Earth
Whirlwinds of crystals called gravel devils spotted in Andes Mountains
Large whirlwinds in northern Chile can carry gravel-sized gypsum crystals several kilometers before dumping them in mounds.
- Environment
When coal replaces a cleaner energy source, health is on the line
Health concerns prompted a shift from nuclear power to coal. But that shift came with its own health troubles, a new study suggests.
- Oceans
Thinning ice creates undersea Arctic greenhouses
Arctic sea ice thinned by climate change increasingly produces conditions favorable for phytoplankton blooms in the waters below, new research suggests.
- Earth
Deadly New Zealand quake hopscotched across faults
The Nov. 14, 2016, earthquake in New Zealand was much larger than thought possible at the time, prompting a rethink of hazard assessments.
- Climate
Arctic sea ice hits record wintertime low
Warm temperatures and heat waves reduced sea ice extent in the Arctic to its smallest maximum extent ever seen.
- Physics
To understand rivers, let physics be your guide
Where the River Flows unites physics and environmental science to explain Earth’s waterways.
- Earth
Remnants of Earth’s original crust preserve time before plate tectonics
Canadian rocks containing bits from 4.2 billion years ago suggest that full-fledged plate tectonics had a late start.
- Climate
Changing climate could worsen foods’ nutrition
Climate change could aggravate hidden hunger by sapping micronutrients from soils and plants, reducing nutrition in wheat, rice and other crops.
- Genetics
How to grow toxin-free corn
Corn genetically altered to produce specialized molecules may prevent a fungus from tainting it with carcinogenic toxins.
- Earth
Warming soils may belch much more carbon
New measurements suggest soils below 15 centimeters deep could play a sizable role in boosting carbon emissions as the planet warms.
- Agriculture
Fleets of drones could pollinate future crops
Chemist Eijiro Miyako turned a lab failure into a way to rethink artificial pollination.
- Ecosystems
Invasive species, climate change threaten Great Lakes
In The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, a journalist chronicles the lakes’ downward spiral and slow revival.
