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Earth Science

Over the past few decades Lake Urmia in Iran has steadily dried up.

28-Year Satellite Time-Lapse Shows Exactly What We’re Doing to Our Planet

28 years in just a few seconds, as seen from space

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Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

The Deep Seafloor Turns Out to Be a Treasure Trove for Ancient DNA

DNA preserved in the the ocean floor could provide a unique view of ancient animals that aren’t represented in the fossil record

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Feel What It’s Like to Live on an Antarctic Icebreaker for Two Months

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One Upside to Drought: the Fewest Tornadoes in the U.S. in At Least 60 Years

No water in the air means less fuel for tornadoes

VOTO, a new device that converts the heat from a fire into readily usable electricity.

Five Innovative Technologies that Bring Energy to the Developing World

From soccer balls to cookstoves, engineers are working on a range of devices that provide cheap, clean energy

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The Center of the Earth Is as Hot as the Sun

1,800 degrees warmer than we previously thought, the Earth’s core is super hot

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Russia’s Cold War Plan to Reverse the Ocean and Melt the Arctic

A giant dam across the Pacific could re-route ocean currents and melt the Arctic, and the Soviets wanted to try

A difference of nearly four decades: at top, a ski area in Aspen, Colorado last year, captured by Ron Hoffman; at bottom, the same location in 1974, shot by Dustin Wesley.

Before and After: America’s Environmental History

Repair crews inspect for damage after the 2011 Virginia earthquake.

Hurricanes May Cause Earthquakes

In August 2011, the Virginia earthquake shook the east coast. Days later, Hurricane Irene may have caused more earthquakes

ZnO Fall Flowers. Image by Audrey Forticaux, a graduate student in the Chemistry Department

Intriguing Science Art From the University of Wisconsin

From a fish’s dyed nerves to vapor strewn across the planet, images submitted to a contest at the university offer new perspectives of the natural world

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10 Things We’ve Learned About the Earth Since Last Earth Day

Pigeon-eating catfish, Antarctic trash, and more: A list of surprising, alarming and exciting discoveries about our planet from the past year

New research finds that the superstorm’s massive ocean waves produced seismic activity as far away as Seattle.

Hurricane Sandy Generated Seismic Shaking As Far Away As Seattle

The superstorm’s massive ocean waves produced low-level seismic activity across the entire country

The rare coealacanth’s genome is slowly evolving—and contrary to prior speculation, it probably isn’t the common ancestor of all land animals.

DNA Sequencing Reveals that Coelacanths Weren’t the Missing Link Between Sea and Land

The rare fish’s genome is slowly evolving—and contrary to prior speculation, it probably isn’t the common ancestor of all land animals

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The Colorado: America’s Most Endangered River

A new report points to drought, climate change and increased demand for water as the reasons the iconic river no longer reaches the sea

An artist’s rendering of Fog Bridge at the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

An Artist Creates Artificial Fog in San Francisco

Fujiko Nakaya works with an unusual medium. The Japanese artist is sculpting fog clouds at the Exploratorium’s new site at Pier 15

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Dark Lightning Is Just One of the Crazy Types of Lightning You’ve Never Heard Of

Dark Lightning is not the only weird form of lightning you’ve probably never heard of

Drought in western Kentucky

Don’t Blame the Awful U.S. Drought on Climate Change

Scientists can attribute particular natural disasters to climate change—just not the 2012 Great Plains drought

Educating Americans for the 21st Century

Highly Recommended: Teaching Climate Change And Evolution in Science Class

On Tuesday, United States educators unveiled a new science curriculum that includes new subjects like climate change and evolution

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What Makes Rain Smell So Good?

A mixture of plant oils, bacterial spores and ozone is responsible for the powerful scent of fresh rain

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The Greening of the Arctic is Underway

As the climate changes, trees and shrubs are poised to take over tundra and alter the Arctic’s ecosystems

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