Rare earth mining may be key to our renewable energy future. But at what cost?
In spring 1949, three prospectors armed with Geiger counters set out to hunt for treasure...
Space station detectors spot the source of weird ‘blue jet’ lightning
Scientists have finally gotten a clear view of the spark that sets off an exotic...
How the Earth-shaking theory of plate tectonics was born
Some great ideas shake up the world. For centuries, the outermost layer of Earth was...
Earth’s oceans are storing record-breaking amounts of heat
Pandemic-related shutdowns may have spared Earth’s atmosphere some greenhouse gas emissions last year, but the...
Reawakened Yellowstone geyser isn’t a sign of imminent explosion
A recent reawakening of the tallest geyser in the world is not a harbinger of...
What is direct heating and how does it impact our future?
In modern times, we are already seeing the effects of disease on our population through...
Overheated plastic pipes can leak hazardous chemicals into water
In August, a massive wildfire tore through the San Lorenzo Valley north of Santa Cruz,...
Fiery thunderclouds can spew as many aerosols as volcanic eruptions
A massive tower of smoke generated by Australian wildfires in late 2019 set a new...
In the past 15 years, climate change has transformed the Arctic
Fifteen years of grading warming’s impact on the Arctic has made one thing abundantly clear:...
An enormous supervolcano may be hiding under Alaskan islands
A mysterious, previously undiscovered supervolcano may be lurking beneath Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. A new study...