May 20, 2024

Why is there sometimes a green flash at sunset and sunrise?

As the sun dips below the horizon and the light starts to dim, lucky observers may spot a rare, brief flash of emerald. This is the green flash, which can sometimes be seen right after sunset or before sunrise. So what causes the green flash? Like many colorful spectacles in the sky, such as rainbows, the green flash is the...

See more >

May 20, 2024

...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Snake Island: The isle writhing with vipers where only Brazilian military and scientists are allowed

QUICK FACTSName: Snake Island Location: Atlantic Ocean off the coast of So Paulo state, Brazil Coordinates: -24.484043070527676, -46.67561478998516 Why it's incredible: The island is so dangerous, only the Brazilian navy and scientists with special permits are allowed access. Snake Island is a small, forested island off the coast of Brazil that writhes with thousands of venomous vipers. The snakes, which...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Tree rings reveal summer 2023 was the hottest in 2 millennia

Last year's summer was the hottest in 2,000 years, ancient tree rings reveal. Researchers already knew that 2023 was one for the books, with average temperatures soaring past anything recorded since 1850. But there are no measurements stretching further back than that date, and even the available data is patchy, according to a study published Tuesday (May 14) in the...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Earth may have had freshwater and continents just 200 million years after forming, ancient crystals reveal

Earth's first continents may have emerged from the planet's primordial oceans much earlier than we thought, just six hundred million years after the planet formed, new research suggests. The researchers found that ancient zircon crystals from the Jack Hills in Western Australia contain evidence of fresh water, which indicates that patches of land must have been present as fresh water...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Why do earthquakes happen far away from plate boundaries?

It's commonly assumed that earthquakes occur only near the boundaries of tectonic plates, and roughly 90% of earthquakes do happen in these areas. These boundaries include, for example, the San Andreas Fault, which runs roughly along the west coast of California, where the North American and Pacific plates meet. But not all earthquakes occur along plate boundaries. For example, an...

See more >

May 20, 2024

'The most critically harmful fungi to humans': How the rise of C. auris was inevitable

Fifteen years ago, scientists discovered a new species of deadly, drug-resistant fungus: Candida auris. It is now considered one of the most dangerous fungal pathogens on Earth. In this excerpt from What if Fungi Win? (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024), author Arturo Casadevall looks at the rise of this deadly fungus, which could be the first to have emerged as...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Odd earthquake swarm in Central Europe hints at magma bubbling below the surface

An odd earthquake swarm on the border of Germany and the Czech Republic may hint at magma moving deep below the surface. The quakes are in Vogtland, a region known for regular, low-level earthquake swarms. These swarms tend to last several weeks and lead to mostly mild shaking. The largest known quakes from the area are around magnitude 4.5, said...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Fairy Chimneys: The stone spires in Turkey that form 'the world's most unusual high-rise neighborhood'

QUICK FACTSName: Fairy Chimneys Location: Cappadocia, Central Anatolia, Turkey Coordinates: 38.660576078243686, 34.81971335767199 Why it's incredible: Both the place and its name are straight out of a fairy tale Turkey's fairy chimneys are natural yet surreal-looking spires up to 130 feet (40 meters) tall that were carved out of soft volcanic rock by the elements over millions of years. Thousands of...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Weird blobs lurking near Earth's core may have been dragged from the surface

Strange blobs deep in Earth's middle layer may be chunks of ancient continental crust that have been dragged down by tectonic forces, new research suggests. These blobs, known as ultra-low velocity zones (ULVZs), have long puzzled scientists. They're deep in the mantle, near the boundary with Earth's core, so researchers can only glimpse them by studying earthquake waves as they...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Collapse of Earth's magnetic field may have fueled evolution of life 600 million years ago

A near collapse of Earth's magnetic field may have paved the way for life to evolve past the microscopic stage. New research on ancient rocks from South Africa and Brazil suggests that Earth's magnetic field underwent a major weakening about 591 million years ago. This corresponds to a time period called the Ediacaran (about 635 million to 541 million years...

See more >

May 20, 2024

The Gulf Stream stopped pumping nutrients during the last ice age — and the same could be happening now

The Gulf Stream slowed dramatically at the end of the last ice age with dire effects on organisms in the Atlantic, scientists have found. This discovery could help researchers forecast how Atlantic currents will change in response to climate change today. The Gulf Stream is a warm ocean current that originates in the Florida Straits between Florida and Cuba, before...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Record-shattering Tonga volcanic eruption wasn't triggered by what we thought, new study suggests

Scientists have proposed an alternative explanation for why the record-shattering Tonga volcanic eruption of 2022 was so violent: The explosion may have been triggered by gas, rather than by a reaction between magma and water as previously suggested. Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, an underwater volcano in the South Pacific Ocean, erupted on Jan. 15, 2022, unleashing the most intense lightning storm...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Siberia's 'gateway to the underworld' is growing a staggering amount each year

The gateway to the underworld, a huge crater in Siberia's permafrost, is growing by 35 million cubic feet (1 million cubic meters) every year as the frozen ground melts, according to a new study. The crater, officially known as the Batagay (also spelled Batagaika) crater or megaslump, features a rounded cliff face that was first spotted on satellite images in...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Earth from space: Mysterious wave ripples across 'galaxy' of icebergs in Arctic fjord

Quick factsWhere is it? Itilliarsuup Kangerlua fjord, Greenland [70.72910805, -50.71839266]. What's in the photo? A mysterious wave, or arc, rippling across the fjord's surface. Which satellite took the photo? Landsat 9. When was it taken? August 3, 2023. This striking satellite photo captured a mysterious arc in an ethereal, iceberg-covered fjord deep within the Arctic Circle. Researchers proposed several possible...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Antarctic ice hole the size of Switzerland keeps cracking open. Now scientists finally know why.

Scientists have finally discovered what's causing a Switzerland-size hole to repeatedly open up in Antarctica's sea ice. Researchers first spotted the hole, called the Maud Rise polynya, in 1974 and 1976 in Antarctica's Weddell Sea, and since then it has reappeared fleetingly and sporadically opening up in different sizes but in the same place, then sometimes not at all for...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Cave of Crystals: The deadly cavern in Mexico dubbed 'the Sistine Chapel of crystals'

QUICK FACTSName: Cave of Crystals Location: Chihuahua, Mexico Coordinates: 27.850823490019174, -105.4963675458159 The Cave of Crystals is an underground cavern filled with tree-size gypsum crystals, including some of the largest natural crystals ever found. The cave is located around 980 feet (300 meters) deep and is connected to a lead, zinc and silver mine in Naica, 65 miles (105 kilometers) southeast...

See more >

May 20, 2024

'You certainly don't see this every day': Ultra-rare backward-spinning tornado formed over Oklahoma

An ultra-rare backward-spinning tornado was spawned Tuesday (April 30) from a powerful supercell thunderstorm that formed over the Oklahoma-Texas border. This backward tornado burst to life in the wake of another odd twister, which was unusual in that it looped back over its own path, CNN reported. Tornadoes tend to travel from west to east, because the prevailing winds in...

See more >

May 20, 2024

2 plants randomly mated up to 1 million years ago to give rise to one of the world's most popular drinks

The plants that provide most of the world's coffee supply emerged around 600,000 to 1 million years ago when two other species of coffee cross-pollinated in the forests of Ethiopia, scientists have discovered. About 60% of the world's coffee supply is sourced from Coffea arabica plants, which now grow in tropical regions across the world New research, published April 15...

See more >

May 20, 2024

Deepest blue hole in the world discovered, with hidden caves and tunnels believed to be inside

Mexico's Taam Ja' Blue Hole is the deepest known underwater sinkhole in the world, researchers have discovered and they haven't even reached the bottom yet. New measurements indicate the Taam Ja' Blue Hole (TJBH), which sits in Chetumal Bay off the southeast coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, extends at least 1,380 feet (420 meters) below sea level. That's 480 feet...

See more >