Earth

Physics

Explainer: Rainbows, fogbows and their eerie cousins

Light shining through a water droplet can make more than just a rainbow. A range of other colorful arcs also can develop.

Health & Medicine

How to find the next pandemic virus before it finds us

Wild animals carry viruses that can sicken people. Monitoring those viral hosts that pose the greatest risk might help prevent a new pandemic.

Climate

Climate change drove Australian wildfires to extremes

Australia’s devastating 2019–2020 wildfires were at least 30 percent more likely because of human-caused climate change.

Climate

How to curb the climate heating by contrails

Contrails are narrow clouds left behind in the sky by jets. They add to climate change. But a new study suggests a way to curb their contribution.

Tech

Here’s one way to harvest water right out of the air

Need water but you have no access to rain, lakes or groundwater? Materials known as metal-organic frameworks could be used to slurp that water from the air, new data show.

Plants

Let’s learn about trees

These long-lived woody plants provide shade for people, homes for animals — and help protect the planet against climate change.

Earth

Let’s learn about the Arctic

The far North is a mix of vast tundra and icy waters, filled with interesting creatures, from tiny zooplankton to huge polar bears.

Earth

Scientists Say: Ring of Fire

This horseshoe-shaped path on the fringes of the Pacific Ocean holds most of the world’s active volcanos and earthquake sites.

Environment

Legos could last a disturbingly long time in the ocean

By looking at toys washed up on beaches, scientists have estimated how long it takes hard plastics to break down in the oceans. And it’s a long time.

Earth

Let’s learn about geysers and hydrothermal vents

These are places where superhot water streams out of the earth. Plate tectonics explains how they form.

Environment

Laundry tweaks can help clothes last longer and pollute less

Clothes washed in cooler water and for less time shed less dye and fewer fibers, a new study finds. That’s better for clothes — and the environment.

Environment

Greener than burial? Turning human bodies into worm food

Composting human bodies yielded good results — and good soil — in one small study. It could become an alternative to burial or cremation in one state.