Earth's Systems
- Chemistry
World’s deepest zoo harbors clues to extraterrestrial life
Scientists have found a wide range of life deep below Earth’s surface. The discoveries could help inform our search for life on other planets.
- Climate
Ancient Arctic ‘gas’ melt triggered enormous seafloor explosions
Methane explosions 12,000 years ago left huge craters in bedrock on the Arctic seafloor. Scientists worry more could be on the way today as Earth’s ice sheets melt.
- Earth
To study a geyser, these teens built their own
Fascinated by geysers but unable to see one? These teens decided to build their own. It allowed them to study how temperature and pressure make the water spew into a founta.
- Environment
Maybe ‘shade balls’ should not be balls
So-called shade balls have a range of uses in water reservoirs, from cutting evaporation to reducing the growth of algae. But the best performers might not actually be balls, a Florida teen now shows.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Continent
A continent is a large land mass. Geologists recognize six of them — Africa, Antarctica, Eurasia, Australia, North America and South America.
- Earth
Plastic trash rides ocean currents to the Arctic
Ocean currents can carry plastic trash far from the cities that shed it. Some plastic debris has made it all of the way to the Arctic Ocean, new data show.
- Oceans
Teen’s invention can warn of deadly rip currents
A teen lifeguard from Australia has invented a buoy that can alert swimmers to the strong, swift and deadly rip currents that can sweep them dangerously far offshore.
- Climate
Sea ice around Antarctica shrinks to record low
Just two years after reaching a record high, the Antarctic sea ice extent has reached a new low.
- Climate
Massive ice shelf is poised to break off of Antarctica
A fast-growing crack in Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf could soon release a truly huge hunk of ice into the ocean.
- Climate
Predicting a wildfire with data from space
When the West gets dry it can catch fire. A teen decided to find out if satellite data might show where a fire’s fuel might reside.
- Climate
Arctic Sea could be ice-free by 2050
Everyone contributes to the melting of Arctic sea ice, and all are in danger of making summer ice disappear there completely by 2050, a new study finds.
- Climate
Cool Jobs: Wet and wild weather
How’s the weather? Forecasts rely on scientists and engineers who collect and interpret data gathered on the ground, in the sky and way up in space.
