Geography

A 225-million-year-old leg bone just rewrote dinosaur history

A fossilized leg bone found in Africa is reshaping our ideas about the size of the first dinosaurs. The 225-million-year-old bone belonged to a mysterious...

Why the Dead Sea is growing salt mountains beneath the surface

The Dead Sea is one of the most unusual places on Earth. Located at the lowest point on the planet’s surface and known for its...

Ancient lungfish jaws reveal the eating habits of Earth’s first land animals

Long before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the oceans were teeming with strange and powerful creatures. Among them were lungfish—an ancient group of lobe-finned fish that...

Dinosaur wrist discovery reveals new clue to how flight evolved

Scientists have uncovered a surprising piece of the puzzle in the evolution of flight: a tiny wrist bone in certain dinosaurs that may have...

Scientists discover seagull-sized pterosaur in Arizona desert

A team of researchers led by the Smithsonian has discovered the oldest known pterosaur fossil in North America. Pterosaurs were flying reptiles that lived alongside...

These are the most concerning pieces of space debris

Tens of thousands of pieces of space debris are hurtling around Earth right now. These defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, collision fragments and even a...

Scientists shake 10-story steel building to test earthquake safety—and it passed

In a groundbreaking experiment, engineers have tested the tallest steel-framed building ever placed on an earthquake simulator—and it stood strong. The 10-story, 100-foot structure was...

This new concrete eats CO₂ and builds stronger, greener cities

Concrete has helped build civilizations for thousands of years, from ancient pyramids to modern skyscrapers. But today, it's also a big polluter—responsible for up to...

Chang’e-6 uncovers hidden history of the moon’s mysterious farside

For decades, scientists have wondered why the moon’s two sides are so different. The side we see from Earth, known as the nearside, is smoother...

The oldest rocks on Earth are more than four billion years old

Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago, during the geological eon known as the Hadean. The name “Hadean” comes from the Greek god of the...