Using 2 decades of satellite data, researchers learned that wildfires in North America don’t follow the same script: In western Canada, snow reflectivity drives a cooling effect, whereas in Alaska, permafrost burning leads to net warming.
News
Asteroid Hosts All Ingredients for DNA and RNA
Samples collected from asteroid Ryugu contain the four genetic “letters” of DNA, reinforcing the hypothesis that the chemical origins of life were present when the solar system began.
A Peculiar Polymer Paired with Sunlight Could Remove PFAS
A new photocatalyst might help take the “forever” out of “forever chemicals” present in water.
Oceans Are Absorbing the Earth’s Excess Energy. That’s Bad News for Food Systems.
As the planet traps more energy than it releases, the pathways for global food production are being upended.
Titanic Shake-Up Could Explain Saturn’s Young Rings and Strange Moons
A new model shows how the migration of Titan could have destroyed another moon, creating Saturn’s rings and the moon Hyperion. And, the model suggests, this all happened in the past billion years.
Climate Science Has No Place in Scientific Reference Manual for Judges, Attorneys General Say
A chapter on climate science has been removed from a manual designed to be an independent, neutral source of scientific information for judges.
Ancient Maya Wetlands Reveal Settlement That Thrived Amid “Collapse”
A newly excavated site provides evidence that Maya communities migrated from urban areas to rural wetlands during times of intense drought.
As Ice Recedes and Land Rebounds, Antarctica’s Mineral Resources Come into Focus
Melting ice, rebounding land, and rising seas will change what resources are available in Antarctica, a new analysis finds.
Solar Flare Spotlights the Martian Ionosphere
A “lucky” linkup between orbiters helped scientists study how the Red Planet’s ionosphere responds to solar events.
Scientists Remap Earth’s Gravity
An uncommon way of looking at the world reveals the evolution of a deep gravity hole beneath Antarctica.
