All Stories by Carolyn Gramling
- Environment
Rare-earth mining is dirty but key to a climate-friendlier future
That’s spurring new research to find a steady but safer supply of these precious metals, including in the United States.
- Chemistry
Chemists have unlocked the secrets of long-lasting Roman concrete
By searching ancient texts and ruins, scientists found a concrete recipe that could make buildings stronger — and help address climate change.
- Fossils
An ancient ichthyosaur graveyard may have been a breeding ground
Some 230 million years ago, huge dolphin-like reptiles appear to have gathered to breed in safe waters, just as many whales do today.
- Fossils
Sprinting reptiles may have been forerunners of soaring pterosaurs
A new analysis of an old fossil supports the idea that winged pterosaurs evolved from swift and tiny two-legged ancestors.
- Climate
Heat waves appear more life-threatening than scientists once thought
This is bad news as a warming planet leads to growing numbers of excessive heat waves — and millions more people facing potentially deadly temperatures.
- Animals
Warm feathers may have helped dinos survive mass Triassic die-off
Dinosaurs may have weathered freezing conditions about 202 million years ago, thanks to warm feathery coats.
- Animals
This big dino had tiny arms before T. rex made them cool
A predecessor to Tyrannosaurus rex, Meraxes gigas had a giant head. But the muscularity of its puny arms suggests those limbs served some purpose.
- Animals
Great white sharks may be partly to blame for the end of megalodons
Zinc levels in shark teeth hint that megalodons and great whites competed for food — and great whites won.
- Archaeology
Bright-colored feathers may have topped pterosaurs’ heads
Fossil remains of a flying reptile hint that their vibrant crests may have originated 250 million years ago in a common ancestor with dinosaurs.
- Environment
Night lights make even the seas bright
Light from coastal cities and offshore development may shine deep enough to disrupt tiny critters living dozens of meters (yards) below the surface.
- Climate
Satellites find big climate threats — ultra-emitters of methane
Eyes in the sky show many of the worst methane emitters are in countries that produce a lot of oil and gas, such as Russia and the United States.
- Climate
Nuevo informe de la ONU sobre el clima: no hay tiempo que perder
En el informe de la ONU se vinculan directamente las temperaturas extremas, lluvias e incendios en todo el mundo con el clima cambiante de la Tierra.
