Earth

Agriculture

Cow dung spews a climate-warming gas. Adding algae could limit that

But how useful this is depends on whether cows eat the red algae, a type of seaweed — or it gets added to their wastes after they’re pooped out.

Climate

Let’s learn about why summer 2023 was so hot

Human-caused climate change has played a big role in this summer’s historic heat.

Oceans

Summer 2023 is when the ocean first turned ‘hot tub’ hot

Unfortunately, scientists worry that this atypical sea warming may actually be the beginning of an unwelcome new ‘normal.’

Tech

Gravity ‘batteries’ might help a weighty renewable-energy problem

To store the energy generated by wind and solar power, researchers are looking at mammoth systems that raise and lower weights.

Tech

High-tech solar ‘leaves’ create green fuels from the sun

Chemists make a liquid alternative to fossil fuels from carbon dioxide, water and the sun. Their trick? They use a new type of artificial leaf.

Earth

Canada’s Crawford Lake seems to mark when the Anthropocene began

Mud at the bottom of this lake holds a record showing how humanity has been changing our planet. But the Anthropocene isn’t an official new epoch yet.

Tech

New thermal ‘cloak’ keeps spaces from getting too hot or too cold

 A prototype fabric could help keep cars, buildings and other spaces cooler during heat waves while also reducing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Oceans

How would a mermaid sound underwater?

Human ears don’t work well in the water. A mermaid would need marine creature features to talk to and understand her aquatic friends.

Animals

Megalodons may have become megahunters by running hot

O. megalodon sharks were warm-blooded mega-predators. But when food sources dwindled, colder-blooded sharks may have had an evolutionary edge.

Earth

A volcanic eruption sparked the highest lightning ever seen

The eruption plume spawned lightning that started 20 to 30 kilometers (some 12 to 19 miles) above sea level.

Earth

Scientists Say: Tectonic Plate

Tectonic plates are giant slabs of rock that make up Earth’s outer layer.

Materials Science

This house is partly made of recycled diapers

After being washed, dried, sanitized and shredded, used diapers were mixed with other materials to make a strong concrete.