Earth
- Agriculture
Deeply plowing farm fields can do more harm than good
Heavy plowing can impair water’s flow through the ground. The problem was found by “listening” to tiny seismic signals caused by rain infiltrating the soil.
- Climate
Hundreds of sea level studies have underestimated ocean rise
One widely used “geoid” technique may have missed up to a century of sea level rise — so risks could hit millions of people far sooner than expected.
- Science & Society
This evolutionary biologist fuses art into her science
Victoria Glynn is studying how high temperatures are affecting ocean plankton. She also makes art to help communicate science to the public.
- Oceans
Explainer: What are corals?
Though they can look like rocks or plants, corals are animals. Most are made up of colonies of individuals called polyps.
- Environment
Hawaii is turning fishnets and other plastic trash into roads
Scientists are testing whether plastic pollution from the ocean can be transformed into safe and durable highways.
- Earth
How hot can our planet get? Earth’s climate history holds clues
Learning from the Earth's past climate swings — what happened to life and when — can help us understand where we might be headed.
- Earth
Clouds come in all shapes and sizes
Here’s a basic breakdown of the different cloud types, as well as how clouds form and why they float.
- Physics
Thunderstorms can make trees twinkle with an electric glow
The tiny, storm-driven electric zaps dance and jump around pine needles and other leaves. Videos have just captured that subtle flickering in forests.
- Animals
Emperor penguins are on the march — toward extinction
Along with Antarctic fur seals, these iconic birds, the largest of all penguins, are now endangered by their continent’s warming.
- Ecosystems
Hurricane Katrina shaped this coastal ecologist’s life and work
Surviving Hurricane Katrina inspired Elliott White Jr.’s scientific journey to studying how humans and climate change impact wetlands.
- Environment
Teen engineer finds eco-friendly way to fight harmful algal blooms
The Netflix series Outer Banks inspired this teen engineer to help clean up algal blooms in a local waterway.
- Life
After the dino-killer asteroid, life bounced back quickly
New ocean dwellers arrived millennia — maybe decades — after the Chicxulub impact. That forces a rethink of evolution's response to wipeout events.
