Earth's Systems
- 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.
- Physics
Scientists used lasers to make ‘smoke rings’ of light
Physicists had a bright idea: Make light into swirling, ring-shaped vortices, similar to smoke rings or bubble rings.
- Earth
Uplifting Antarctic shores point to accelerating loss of glaciers
It appears the Pine Island and “Doomsday” Thwaites glaciers are losing ice — and shrinking faster — than at any time in the past 5,500 years.
- Chemistry
Let’s learn about diamond
Diamond is born under extreme heat and pressure inside Earth and elsewhere in the universe.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Fault
A fault is a crack in Earth’s crust where pieces of rock scrape past each other.
- Earth
Tiny gemstones show when Earth’s crust first started moving
Chemical hints observed in zircons suggest when the important process of plate tectonics first took off.
- Physics
Gravitational waves ‘kicked’ a newborn black hole across space
Two black holes merged into one, and then sped off at around 5 million kilometers (3.1 million miles) per hour.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Atmosphere
An atmosphere is an envelope of gas around a planet, dwarf planet or moon.
- Science & Society
This sun-powered system delivers energy as it pulls water from the air
The device not only produces electricity but also harvests water for drinking or crops. It could be especially useful in remote and dry parts of the world.
- Climate
A bold plan to save the planet turns carbon dioxide into stone
Scientists hope that capturing carbon dioxide this way will limit both further warming of our planet and an escalation of extreme weather events.
- Earth
The Alps’ Matterhorn shows how much even big mountains sway
Such mountain sway data can help planners map high-risk zones for peaks, bridges or any large structures.
- Earth
Let’s learn about Earth’s secret stash of underground water
Groundwater provides drinking water to billions of people and is used to water crops worldwide.
