Earth and Human Activity

Space

The universe: How will it end?

The Big Bang likely brought our universe into existence. What will mark its grand finale? Scientists blend imagination and data to make predictions.

Environment

More and more, microplastics are collecting in our brains

Over eight years, the mass of microplastics in human brains increased by some 50 percent. There are growing hints that internal microplastics may harm us.

Earth

This long-buried glacier ice is at least 770,000 years old

Thanks to climate change, thawing permafrost in the Canadian Arctic has revealed this glacier remnant that could be more than a million years old.

Chemistry

Some bacteria in wastewater can break down a common plastic

These microbes can break the carbon bonds that make PET plastics so hard to degrade. This type of plastic makes up almost one-third of plastic waste.

Climate

2024 set new record for hottest year, passing a dangerous heat threshold

For the first year in recorded history, Earth’s average temperature topped 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

Earth

Scientists Say: Avulsion

As rivers seek out easier routes to the sea, path reroutes can transform our world. This is ‘avulsion’ refers to in geology. In medicine, the word can describe injuries.

Climate

Why is Los Angeles on fire?

High heat and little rain have extended wildfire season to year-round in some parts of California. Fast winds and dry conditions are fueling L.A.’s current infernos.

Materials Science

This teen materials scientist wants to save the Great Salt Lake

Thermo Fisher JIC finalist Sophia Zhang investigated hydrogels that might conserve water in farming — a big stressor of the lake’s water supply.

Earth

A landslide in a Greenland fjord echoed around Earth for 9 days

Warming permafrost and glacial melt destabilized a fragile mountain slope, leading to a landslide-triggered tsunami in a fjord. Is this a sign of more to come?

Animals

Giant rat border agents could help put a stop to wildlife poaching

African giant pouched rats have been trained to ferret out elephant ivory, pangolin scales and more. They could be put to work preventing smuggling.

Earth

Earthquakes upped the death toll at Pompeii

Broken bodies found at a house in Pompeii suggest that earthquakes played a role in the legendary tragedy.

Climate

An ancient log shows how burying wood can fight climate change

A blanket of clay soil helped the wood hold onto the carbon it had absorbed — for thousands of years.