Earth

Science & Society

Analyze This: Seasonal hurricane costs have been rising sharply

Scientists study past hurricanes to help them predict future risks. Better predictions can help communities prepare for monster storms.

Animals

Whales feast when hatcheries release salmon

Humpback whales are visiting sites where hatcheries release juvenile salmon in Alaska. It’s a dining bonanza for the huge whales.

Climate

Climate change is shifting when Europe’s rivers flood

Climate change has been shifting when European rivers flood by weeks or even months. This is likely to have been impacts on cities, farms and ecosystems.

Earth

Explainer: Hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons

Hurricanes are some of the most destructive forces on the planet. Here’s how they form and why they are so dangerous.

Earth

Vinegar dissolves new electronics when they’re no longer needed

Now you see it, now you don't. A new lightweight, low-cost technology disintegrates in kitchen vinegar.

Science & Society

Cuba: How politics has become a hurdle for its researchers

Scientists in Cuba face difficulties getting equipment and publishing results due to a U.S.-imposed trade embargo on their country.

Earth

Scientists probe how an eclipse affects Earth’s atmosphere

Parts of the electrically charged layer of Earth’s atmosphere lose that charge in an eclipse. Scientists are studying how it might affect everything from GPS accuracy to earthquake prediction.

Environment

Can concrete conquer air pollution?

Powdered concrete could remove the sulfur dioxide and other pollutants that are spewed into the air when electric-power plants burn fossil fuels, a lab study suggests.

Animals

Giant Antarctic sea spiders breathe really strangely

Sea spiders have many bizarre body systems. Scientists have now discovered that they breathe and circulate oxygen in a way never seen before.

Planets

Early Earth may have been a hot doughnut

Synestia is the name some scientists are giving to the smooshed shape Earth might have developed after undergoing a violent cosmic smashup early in its infancy.

Oceans

Cool Jobs: Science deep beneath the waves

These scientists probe the sea’s depths, its strange inhabitants, the movement of water and how life evolves in extremes.

Animals

Humpbacks flap their flippers like underwater birds

Surprising new video shows humpback whales flapping their front flippers to move their massive bodies toward their prey.