earth science
Photosynthesis is powerful but very inefficient. Humans can improve on this biochemical process to help the planet.
On Earth, carbon can form millions of compounds, while silicon is largely stuck inside rocks. But elsewhere, silicon could form the basis of life.
Your eyes are playing tricks on you.
Here's what the weather phenomenon baking large parts of the country actually means.
Some of the coastal areas were not repopulated for millennia afterward, showing that there was a long-lasting memory of this tragic event.
Any alien civilization that grows to span an entire planet would spark the same effects that we have. So, what do we do about it?
Where did the “seed” magnetic field come from in the first place?
Researchers have discovered 830-million-year-old microbes living inside a salt rock on Earth. Could the same occur on Mars?
Wind energy is one of the cleanest, greenest sources of power. But could it have the sneaky side-effect of changing the weather?
The answer may lie in the particular way sand forms on Titan.
In 100 years, perhaps this map showing humanity clustering around the equator will seem “so 21st century.”
The sky is blue. The oceans are blue. While science can explain them both, the reasons for each are entirely different.
The simulation gave researchers some of the first concrete data linking climate change to human evolution and speciation.
Europa may be difficult to access. But if a recent study is correct, its subsurface ocean would be more accessible than previously thought.
Extremely precise atomic clocks are not just of theoretical interest; they could help detect impending volcanic eruptions or melting glaciers.
Two types of leaves for two different drastic weather conditions.
Volcanic activity caused the end-Triassic mass extinction 200 million years ago. The dinosaurs survived and rose to dominance.
Ancient helium-3 from the dawn of time leaks from the Earth, offering clues to our planet’s formation. A key question is where it leaks from.
A floating platform the size of Rome collapsed off of Antarctica.
Scientists have known blobs existed for a long time, but how they have behaved over Earth’s history has been an open question.
Due to a crust of carbon, the absence of oxygen, and constant bombardment from meteorites, the planet Mercury may be littered with diamonds.
On Nov. 13, 1946, a scientist dropped crushed dry ice from a plane into supercooled stratus clouds.
“I watched closely for the sun or stars to appear, to correct my chronometer, on the accuracy of which our lives and the success of the journey would depend.”
From crocodiles to birds, certain animals managed to survive some of the worst extinction events in world history.
Where the prime meridian meets the equator, a non-existent island captures our imagination — and our non-geocoded data.
In the Saudi Arabian desert, the Al Naslaa rock formation looks completely unnatural. Its perfectly vertical split remains a mystery.
Earth is not a benign mother. We have begun to witness what happens when it unleashes its fury.
60% of all potentially dangerous asteroids remain undetected.
Gigantic ranges called "supermountains" formed twice in Earth's history, and they may have had a profound influence on evolutionary history.