Earth & Environment
Why the Los Angeles fires were so destructive
Twelve months after devastating wildfires tore through parts of Los Angeles, researchers are still uncovering lessons from one of the most destructive urban fire...
Your receipt could soon be made from trees, not toxic chemicals
Every day, most of us touch thermal paper without giving it a second thought.
It shows up as shopping receipts, delivery labels, movie tickets, and...
Walking on two legs began earlier than we thought
Scientists may have just pushed back the timeline for when our ancestors first started walking upright.
A new study suggests that Sahelanthropus tchadensis, a species...
The sticky problem of lunar dust gets a mathematical solution
Apollo astronauts discovered an unexpected enemy on the Moon. Fine dust, kicked up by their movements and attracted by static electricity, coated everything.
It found...
How air pollution may raise depression risk in older people
Air pollution is often talked about as a threat to our lungs and hearts, but scientists are now finding that it can also affect...
How a 4,000-year-old sheep solved a long-standing plague mystery
The Black Death is one of the most infamous pandemics in human history, killing roughly a third of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages.
That...
Tattoos, toxins and the immune system – what you need to know before you...
From minimalist wrist designs to full sleeves, body art has become so common that it barely raises an eyebrow.
But while the personal meaning of...
When humans disappeared, these birds evolved different beaks
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the UCLA campus, students weren’t the only ones affected.
A small brown bird called the dark-eyed junco also felt...
When disasters strike, home batteries could be a lifeline
Extreme weather is placing greater strain on Australia's power grids.
In 2022, the record-breaking Northern Rivers floods blacked out almost 70,000 households.
A powerful storm in...
Biodegradable electronics may create microplastics, scientists warn
Electronics designed to disappear after use sound like a perfect solution to the world’s growing e-waste problem.
Known as transient or biodegradable electronics, these devices...
Your laundry is polluting the ocean—Scientists say this new filter can help
Every time we wash our clothes, tiny plastic fibers are released into the water.
These fibers come mainly from synthetic fabrics such as polyester, nylon...
Engineers find a way to watch desalination membranes clog in real time
As freshwater shortages worsen around the world, desalination—turning seawater into drinkable water—is becoming increasingly important.
But the technology that powers most desalination plants has a...
FEATURED
US national parks have extremely early spring due to climate change
Many US national parks are already at the extreme warm end of their historical temperature distributions.
Because of rapidly warming conditions, people need to enhance...
Air pollution plays a big role in development of heart disease, diabetes
Air pollution is the world's leading environmental risk factor and causes more than nine million deaths per year.
In a new study, researchers found air...
When humans disappeared, these birds evolved different beaks
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the UCLA campus, students weren’t the only ones affected.
A small brown bird called the dark-eyed junco also felt...
ChatGPT’s use of a soundalike Scarlett Johansson reflects a troubling history of gender-stereotyping in...
Actress Scarlett Johansson released a statement this week expressing anger and concern that OpenAI used a voice "eerily similar" to her own as a...
Assyriologist unravels mystery of 2,700-year-old temple
In the ancient city of Dūr-Šarrukīn, which we now call Khorsabad in Iraq, there's a puzzle that's baffled experts for over a century.
On the...
As Yelp turns 20, online reviews continue to confound and confuse shoppers
reviews have become a big problem that threatens to delegitimize online reviews altogether.
For example, a recent study estimates that fake reviews compel consumers to...
New study reveals a hidden ‘mercury bomb’ in the Arctic
As the Arctic warms at a rate up to four times faster than the rest of the world, a hidden danger is emerging from...
Sea sponges may have been Earth’s first animals, new study shows
What were the first animals to appear on Earth? New research points to a surprising candidate: sea sponges.
A team of geochemists from MIT and...