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Science / Our Planet

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This is What a Huge, Rotating Supercell Looks Like

Photographer Mike Olbinski captured a massive and rare type of thunderstorm along the Texas panhandle

Languages that evolve at high elevations are more likely to include a sound that’s easier to make when the air is thinner, new research shows.

Do Geography and Altitude Shape the Sounds of a Language?

Languages that evolve at high elevations are more likely to include a sound that’s easier to make when the air is thinner, new research shows

Do cats always land on their feet? Scientists figured out the answers to this and other pressing questions once and for all.

Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet? (and Other Absurd Scientific Studies)

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Scientists figured the answers to this and other pressing questions once and for all

White-tailed deer making do in a harsh winter wonderland.

Deer May Be Peeing Themselves Out of Their Favorite Winter Habitats

Special patches of trees shield deer from harsh winter weather, but deer urine stimulates growth of competitive plants in those havens

Emerging research indicates that low doses of the active chemical psilocybin can have positive psychiatric effects.

Could “Magic” Mushrooms Be Used to Treat Anxiety and Depression?

Emerging research indicates that low doses of the active chemical psilocybin, found in the fungi, can have positive psychiatric effects

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How Do Death Valley’s ‘Sailing Stones’ Move Themselves Across the Desert?

These mysterious rocks have puzzled scientists for decades—until one geologist found the answer on his kitchen table

Can this little thing really ride hurricane winds?

How Swarming Drones Can Explore a Hurricane

A University of Florida engineer is building a squadron of hand-sized drones that he says will be able to gather data as they ride on hurricane winds

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Warming, Rising Acidity and Pollution: Top Threats to the Ocean

Since the last World Oceans Day, we’ve documented trash in the deep sea, sea snails with acid-weakened shells, high ocean temperatures and more

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What’s Working When It Comes to the Ocean?

On World Oceans Day, scientist Nancy Knowlton reflects on the health of our seas

Designer Kate McLean creates detailed smell maps of cities around the world, such as this map of the the “Smelliest Block in New York.”

Mapping the Smells of New York, Amsterdam and Paris, Block by Block

Designer and cartographer Kate McLean charts the sweet scents and pungent odors that fill a city’s olfactory landscape

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Why Navy Scientists Want to Mimic Cicadas

No, it’s not about learning to live underground for 17 years. It’s all about the noise.

This European lobster (Homarus gammarus) can live at least 50 years in the wild.

Don’t Listen to the Buzz: Lobsters Aren’t Actually Immortal

Contrary to memes circulating online, lobsters can’t live forever—but they do keep growing and growing until they die

An Iraqi girl stands on former marshland, drained in the 1990s because of politically motivated water policies.

Is a Lack of Water to Blame for the Conflict in Syria?

A 2006 drought pushed Syrian farmers to migrate to urban centers, setting the stage for massive uprisings

Members of the Lake Whillans drill team lived in yellow tents studding the Antarctic landscape.

Digging for the Secrets Beneath Antarctica

Scientists have found life in the depths beneath the ice

Global sea levels were as much as 400 feet lower than today.

Never Heard of Doggerland? Blame Climate Change From Millennia Ago

Rising waters have forced populations to relocate since the dawn of early man

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When Large Birds Disappear, Rainforests Suffer

A century after toucans and toucanets disappeared from patches of Brazilian jungle, trees have evolved to have smaller, weaker seeds

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Plants Frozen Under a Glacier for 400 Years Can Come Back to Life

Long-buried mosses recently exposed in the wake of a Canadian glacier’s retreat are sprouting new growth, a study shows

Much about lightning remains a mystery.

8 Things We’ve Learned Lately About Thunder and Lightning

Such as, storms can make your head hurt. And we should expect more turbulence on transatlantic flights

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Save the Amazon, Increase Malaria

People in Brazil living close to forests are 25 times more likely to catch malaria than those living near places where all the trees have been cut down

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Scientists Finally Pinpoint the Pathogen That Caused the Irish Potato Famine

DNA analysis of 166-year-old potato plant leaves has revealed the disease strain that caused the starvation of millions

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