Earth & Environment
Think bottled water is cleaner? It may contain more microplastics than the tap
Many people choose bottled water believing it is cleaner and safer than tap water. But new research suggests that this assumption may not always...
430,000-year-old wooden tools found in Greece rewrite early human history
Archaeologists have uncovered the earliest known hand-held wooden tools ever used by humans, and the discovery is changing what we know about early technology.
Found...
Baby dinosaurs were a key food source for Jurassic predators, study finds
A new study suggests that the babies of the largest dinosaurs to ever walk the Earth were once a crucial food source for meat-eating...
Ancient DNA solves a 12,000-year-old medical mystery
Scientists have uncovered the oldest known genetic diagnosis of a rare inherited disease, thanks to advances in ancient DNA research.
By analyzing the DNA of...
A 40-million-year-old ant hidden in Goethe’s amber still has stories to tell
More than 200 years after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s death, his curiosity about nature is still leading to new discoveries.
Scientists in Germany have now...
Why the ocean around Greenland is expected to drop—even as the world’s seas rise
Sea levels are rising across most of the planet as the climate warms and ice melts.
But around Greenland, scientists say the opposite is likely...
Burning wood at home may harm our health more than we think
Throwing a log into the fireplace might seem cozy on a cold winter night, but new research shows it could be much more harmful...
How a slow change in ocean chemistry may have cooled Earth after the dinosaurs
Scientists may have finally solved a long-standing mystery about how Earth shifted from a hot, tropical “greenhouse” world to the cooler, ice-covered planet we...
Air pollution may raise the risk and speed of ALS
A new study from Sweden has found that long-term exposure to air pollution may increase the risk of developing serious brain diseases like ALS.
The...
How tiny Mars helps set Earth’s ice ages
Mars is only about half the size of Earth and has just one-tenth of our planet’s mass.
Compared with giants like Jupiter, it seems far...
Why Tiger Shark bites peak in Hawaiʻi each October
For years, surfers and ocean-goers in Hawaiʻi have talked about “Sharktober,” a time when shark encounters seem more common.
Now, scientists say the pattern is...
Scientists discover Tyrannosaurus rex grew for 40 years, far longer than we thought
Tyrannosaurus rex has long been pictured as a fast-growing monster that quickly reached its enormous adult size.
But a new study suggests the famous “king...
FEATURED
Asteroid that formed Vredefort crater much bigger than previously thought
About two billion years ago, an impactor hurtled toward Earth, crashing into the planet in an area near present-day Johannesburg, South Africa.
The impactor—most likely...
Ancient murals at Teotihuacan may reveal the language of a lost civilization
More than 2,000 years ago, Teotihuacan was one of the greatest cities in the world. Located in central Mexico, it was home to around...
Earth’s cryosphere shrinking by an area of Lake Superior every year
The global cryosphere--all of the areas with frozen water on Earth--shrank by about 87,000 square kilometers (about 33,000 square miles), an area about the...
These dinosaur eggs reveal secrets of ancient climate
Eighty-five million years ago, dinosaurs roamed a world filled with dramatic changes.
Volcanoes erupted frequently, oceans lost oxygen in some regions, and waves of extinctions...
Why young people hate phone calls and how it could affect their careers
Young people today are using their smartphones for almost everything except making phone calls.
Many under 40 prefer texting or sending images instead of speaking...
You don’t need to be perfect: New study shows animals use “good enough” strategies...
For decades, scientists have thought that animals, including humans, use the best possible strategy to complete tasks like finding food or navigating a maze.
These...
Scientists develop smarter ways to decide where to build solar and wind farms
Deciding where to build solar and wind farms is often left to individual developers, with little coordination across regions.
But a new study from MIT...
Cold traps on the Moon likely have solid carbon dioxide, shows study
The trapped solid carbon dioxide could be used to sustain robot or human presence on the moon.
After decades of uncertainty, researchers have confirmed the...