Earth's Systems
- Climate
Explainer: Urban heat islands and how to cool them
Cities transform landscapes covered in plants to ones covered in heat-absorbing asphalt and concrete. But ways exist to cool these urban heat islands.
- Climate
‘Zombie’ wildfires can reemerge after wintering underground
Climate change may make these not-quite-dead blazes more common. Scientists are learning to predict where a zombie might emerge.
- Animals
Sudden shark die-off 19 million years ago eliminated most species
New fossil evidence shows 90 percent of sharks died in the mysterious event.
- Animals
Let’s learn about dinosaurs’ fearsome neighbors
Dinosaurs may get much of our attention, but there were plenty of other interesting critters during the Age of Reptiles, including our mammal ancestors.
- Climate
‘Tree farts’ make up about a fifth of greenhouse gases from ghost forests
Heat-trapping gases from dead trees play an important role in the environmental impact of “ghost” forests.
- Climate
Let’s learn about lightning
Around 100 times a second, every hour of every day, lightning strikes somewhere on Earth. It’s beautiful — and deadly.
- Agriculture
New technologies might help keep drought-prone farms green
After learning how much damage drought can do to crops, two teens designed ways to detect a thirsty plant and make sure it gets enough water.
- Earth
Here’s how lightning may help clean the air
Airplane observations show that storm clouds can generate huge quantities of air-cleansing chemicals known as oxidants.
- Physics
Raindrops on alien worlds will obey Earth-like rules
Their size will be similar no matter what they’re made of or on which planet they fall, a new analysis finds.
- Fossils
Dinosaur-killing asteroid radically changed Earth’s tropical forests
The asteroid collision initially reduced the diversity in what had been sunny tropical rainforests. In time, the forests would become permanently darker.
- Earth
Light levitation might help explore Earth’s ‘ignorosphere’
A toy called a light mill inspired researchers to invent a new way to fly. They’re using light to levitate small nanotube-coated discs.
- Climate
Surfing the winds would make future jet travel greener
Simple route changes could drastically cut fuel use and greenhouse-gas emissions, a new study finds.
