Using satellite data, scientists have detected where once-stable alpine ecosystems are transforming into greener, shrubbier places.
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The Secrets of Acid Salt Lakes
These stunning bodies of water—saltier than seawater and nearly as acidic as lemon juice—can teach us more about where life can survive, on Earth and beyond.
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Was the Moon-Forming Impact Squishy or Crunchy?
A new computer simulation adds a crust to the Earth-smashing planet Theia, showing how a proto-Moon could form from the leftovers.
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Where Did Formaldehyde Rain Down on Mars? Almost Everywhere.
More formaldehyde rained down in places that were already wet and favorable for prebiotic chemistry.
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A Rock Avalanche Buried an Arctic Glacier. Was Climate Change to Blame?
Degrading permafrost and earlier small quakes likely weakened a rock slope until it collapsed and buried an Arctic glacier in tons of rock.
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White Dwarf Spotted Devouring the Planet It Birthed
Exotic chemical elements in the atmosphere of a dead star hint at the presence of a planet that formed after the star’s death—the first such second-generation planet ever seen.
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Oil and Gas Development Heightens Risk of Valley Fever
Kern County has more cases of valley fever and more fossil fuel wells than anywhere else in California. A new study suggests this might not be a coincidence.
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A Hydrological Paradox on the Silk Road
How did trade prosper in Central Asia during a period of droughts and little rain?
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Reading Rainfall in a Snail’s Shell
The chemical record of a snail shell is allowing scientists to reconstruct a record of past storms from the recent—and maybe distant—past.
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Scientists Finally Think They Know What Made These Geometric Fossils
Arthropods, with harder bodies and better cognition than some other candidates, seem to be the most likely culprit.