Earth
- 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.
- Earth
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.
- Ecosystems
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.
- Climate
Scientists Say: Ozone
Ozone is a molecule made of three oxygen atoms. In a layer above the Earth, it protects us from harmful radiation, but too close to home, it can harm our health.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Speleology
This is the scientific study of caves, which can include what they’re made of, how they form and what lives in them.
- Animals
Night lights have a dark side
Artificial light at night not only affects our view of the night sky, but also has the ability to impair animal behaviors — and probably our health.
- Climate
Hotter air may lead planes to carry fewer passengers
Global warming could force airplanes to carry a lighter load on each flight. This could mean fewer passengers can fly on each plane.
- Agriculture
Scientists Say: Domestication
Domestication is the process of deliberately taking a wild organism — a plant or animal for instance — and making it a part of our daily lives.
- Oceans
How the Arctic Ocean became salty
The Arctic Ocean was once a huge freshwater lake, separated from the Atlantic by a ridge of land. Scientists explore how salt water overtook it.
- Chemistry
New ‘magnet’ pulls pesky nonstick pollutants from drinking water
Chemicals that help make pans nonstick can themselves stick around forever in the environment. But a new material can remove them from drinking water.
- Animals
Listening to fish love songs can predict their numbers
Gulf corvinas croak for mates while in groups of millions. By listening to their undersea serenades, scientists may be able to estimate how many are out there.
