Earth & Environment
Hot weather and air pollution together may raise suicide risk
Suicide is a major public health concern in the United States and around the world. Over the past several decades, suicide rates in the...
Ancient plant viruses may have originated before the last ice age
A group of plant viruses that infect many important crops may have origins stretching back tens of thousands of years, long before humans began...
The Sun has a heartbeat
Think you know the Sun?
You glance up on a clear day, feel the warmth on your face, and it seems reassuringly constant. Same star,...
Tiny zircon crystals reveal new secrets about Earth’s earliest history
Scientists still have many questions about the earliest years of our planet.
Earth formed about 4.55 billion years ago, but almost no rocks from that...
Climate change could wipe out 20% of Colombia’s cocoa land by 2050, study warns
Colombia may lose nearly one-fifth of the land currently suitable for growing cocoa by 2050, according to a new scientific study.
The research suggests that...
Why many middle‑aged Americans feel worse than previous generations
A growing number of Americans in their 50s and early 60s say they feel lonelier, more depressed, and physically weaker than people of the...
Why dance tracks dominate TikTok while love songs rule Spotify
What makes a song become a hit today?
While listeners certainly play a role, new research suggests that streaming platforms and their algorithms also have...
US is less prone to oil price shocks than in past decades
Oil is a global market, so when prices rise in one place, they rise everywhere. The current war against Iran has already raised oil...
Scientists grow chickpeas in “moon dirt,” opening the door to farming on the Moon
As NASA prepares for future missions that could send astronauts back to the Moon, scientists are trying to answer an important question: what will...
Elephants steer clear of humans much more than other wildlife, study finds
Wild animals do not all react to human activity in the same way.
A new study from Botswana shows that some species are much more...
Antarctica has lost ice the size of 10 Los Angeles cities in 30 years
A new 30-year study has revealed how Antarctica’s ice is slowly retreating along parts of its vast coastline.
Scientists led by researchers at the University...
Did the first land plants accidentally trigger two ancient ocean extinctions?
Hundreds of millions of years ago, the first plants began spreading across Earth’s land. This major turning point helped transform the planet into the...
FEATURED
Scientists trace the moon’s birth to Earth’s nearby planetary twin
Around 4.5 billion years ago, a dramatic event changed Earth forever.
A massive, planet-sized body called Theia slammed into the young Earth in a violent...
New AI tool can predict in seconds what a movie will be rated
Movie ratings can determine a movie’s appeal to consumers and the size of its potential audience.
Thus, they have an impact on a film’s bottom...
Scientists find way to forecast hurricane 18 months in advance
Every spring, researchers publish their projected forecasts of the upcoming hurricane season – how many storms may form, and how severe they may be.
But...
Africa’s forests are now releasing more carbon than they absorb, scientists warn
Africa’s forests, once powerful natural defenders against climate change, have begun releasing more carbon dioxide than they capture, according to a major new study.
The...
7 things only people with social anxiety will understand
Social anxiety is more than just shyness or a lack of self-esteem.
Social anxiety disorder also known as social phobia, is a type of anxiety...
Plants get a faster start to their day than we think
To describe something as slow and boring we say it's "like watching grass grow", but scientists studying the early morning activity of plants have...
Scientists calculated the weight of two giant extinct amphibians
The last of the temnospondyls – amphibians that look more like crocodiles – became extinct during the Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago,...
Scientists mimic bacteria to turn acid wastewater into clean energy
A group of researchers in China has developed a new type of membrane that could help turn acidic industrial wastewater into electricity.
Inspired by how...