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Science / Our Planet

Not a movie still: Fire rages on a flooded street following the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California.

What Will Really Happen When San Andreas Unleashes the Big One?

A major earthquake will cause plenty of destruction along the West Coast, but it won’t look like it does in the movies

Anthropocene

Scientists Discover Sudden Melting in the Antarctic

Warmer waters are eating away at protective ice shelves, letting glaciers flow into the sea

Six years after the quake first struck, the city of L’Aquila is still rebuilding. The recovery is estimated to cost at least $16 billion.

The Shaky Science Behind Predicting Earthquakes

A powerful earthquake in Italy killed hundreds of people—and set in motion a legal battle and scientific debate that has kept seismologists on edge

At 3.3 million years old, tools unearthed at the Lomekwi 3 excavation site in Kenya, like the one pictured above, represent the oldest known evidence of stone tools, researchers suggest.

The Oldest Stone Tools Yet Discovered Are Unearthed in Kenya

3.3 million-year-old artifacts predate the human genus

Data from satellites and sensors show the Pacific Ocean conditions in March 2015, including an increase in warm waters (shown in red). The warming has strengthened since then, prompting agencies to declare 2015 an El Niño year.

Anthropocene

El Niño Is Here, But It Can’t Help Parched California (For Now)

Three national agencies have confirmed that the natural phenomenon has arrived, but not in time to bring much-needed rains in the West

Anthropocene

Is This Plan to Combat Climate Change Insane or Insanely Genius?

Harvard physicist David Keith wants to use two jets and one million tons of sulfur dioxide a year to halt global warming

A pelican dives for dinner among an unsuspecting school of fish.

Paper Turtles and Frisky Skates Bring This Indoor Seashore to Life

A new exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore takes visitors on a trip to the beach and into the dark depths of the Atlantic

The Cosmic Navel is larger than it appears in this image—it spans about 200 feet wide and is between 16 and 65 feet deep.

How the Giant “Cosmic Navel” Formed in Utah

The unique landform in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is essentially one of the biggest potholes on Earth

Lightning crackles across the sky over Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

New Research

Rockets and Microphones Reveal the First Images of Thunder

The acoustic visuals could help us better understand the physical processes that drive lightning strikes

Evan Creelman, Newlight COO; Mark Herrema, Co-Founder and CEO; and Kenton Kimmel, Co-Founder and CTO, with a few products made of AirCarbon.

Smart Startup

Creating Plastic From Greenhouse Gases

Newlight Technologies is turning carbon emissions into plastic for everyday items

The marbled salamander is increasing its distribution and range in response to warming winter temperatures.

Anthropocene

Climate Change Will Accelerate Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction

The pace at which species disappear is picking up as temperatures rise, and things are looking especially troubling in the tropics

David Lerner uses a conductivity and temperature meter to test for sewage in water, a method that's more costly and less effective than using tampons.

How Scientists Are Monitoring Water Quality With Tampons

The feminine hygiene products glow under ultra-violet light after absorbing pollutants called optical brighteners

On October 7, 2014, protestors blocking the road, halted a groundbreaking ceremony for the Thirty Meter Telescope.

The Heart of the Hawaiian Peoples’ Arguments Against the Telescope on Mauna Kea

Native Hawaiians are not protesting science, but instead are seeking respect for sacred places, and our planet

The Grand Prismatic Spring is one of the most indelible hydrothermal features in Yellowstone National Park.

New Research

Giant New Magma Reservoir Found Beneath Yellowstone

While an eruption is still unlikely, the find improves our understanding of the supervolcano underneath the national park

How Do Seals Find Their Prey and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Single-use cigarette lighters, collected by Mandy Barker, represent our transition to a consumerist, throw-away society.

Art Meets Science

This Artist Transforms Beach Trash Into Stunning, Majestic Images

Mandy Barker didn’t have spend too much time on the shores to collect enough debris for her masterpieces

A walrus rests on an iceberg in Canada's Hudson Bay.

Inuit Wisdom and Polar Science Are Teaming Up to Save the Walrus

Traditional knowledge and scientific study are helping us begin to understand what a changing Arctic means for the marine mammal

A worker rescues a severely oiled brown pelican along the Louisiana shore in June 2010.

Anthropocene

The Gulf Oil Spill Isn’t Really Over, Even Five Years Later

Two Louisiana scientists reflect on the event and how its lingering effects are continuing to change the Gulf Coast

Anthropocene

Five Things The Gulf Oil Spill Has Taught Us About the Ocean

While researching the spill, scientists tracked deep-sea sharks, found new mud dragons, and discovered a type of ocean current

Yum! A candy-colored view of the planet Mercury shows differences in its chemical makeup.

New Research

Earth May Have Become Magnetic After Eating a Mercury-Like Object

Swallowing a sulfur-rich protoplanet could help explain two lingering mysteries in the story of Earth’s formation

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