All Stories by Beth Geiger
- Earth
Too hot? Some peaks offer climate migrants lots of land
As mountain climates warm, species may actually gain ground as they migrate up to cooler sites, a new study finds.
- Microbes
Life’s ultra-slow lane is deep beneath the sea
Biologists had suspected the deep seafloor would be little more than barren sediment. But they found a surprising amount of oxygen — and life.
- Climate
The worst drought in 1,000 years
The 1934 drought, during a period in American history known as the Dust Bowl, was the worst in a millennium, a new study finds. While the drought had natural origins, human activities made it worse.
- Earth
When life exploded
Life exploded in diversity during the Cambrian Period. Experts are exploring what could account for this sudden change 540 million years ago.
- Earth
The quake that shook up geology
North America’s biggest earthquake struck 50 years ago. Here’s what science has learned about Earth since the 1964 Great Alaskan Earthquake.
- Tech
Branching out for safer water
Clean drinking water could be only a tree branch away, a new study finds.
- Animals
We are stardust
Everything making up Earth and what’s now living upon it — from trees and people to our pets and their fleas — owes their origins to the elements forged by ancient stars.
- Earth
Towering mounds: Can gophers be to blame?
Scientists may have unearthed the source of Mima mounds, mysterious bumpy landscapes found on every continent except Antarctica.
- Plants
Gold can grow on trees
Australian researchers found leafy nano-evidence pointing to rich deposits of the precious metal deep below ground.
