WASP-121b, an already unusual planet, might have a remote origin that explains some of its peculiar properties—from iron rain to the unexpected presence of methane.
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Policy Success: Fees and Bans on Plastic Bags Reduce Beach Trash
Regardless of the patchwork of regulations aimed at limiting plastic bag use in the United States, new research indicates that such legislation does, indeed, limit the number of plastic bags found on beaches.
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Anchoring Is Damaging the Fragile Antarctic Seabed
Scientists call for better protection of Antarctica’s vulnerable seafloor ecosystem as ship traffic increases around the continent.
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Mapping Mud Volcanoes in Shallow Seas
A team of scientists put together a global database of submarine mud volcanoes. Orders of magnitude more are still bubbling, undiscovered, in the deep ocean.
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Biomass and Biodiversity Were Coupled in Earth’s Past
Measuring shells and skeletons encased in thousands of limestone samples has revealed that the sheer amount of living stuff in Earth’s oceans changed alongside the diversity of organisms.
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Pollution from Wildfires Can Contaminate Our Water for up to 8 Years, Study Finds
An analysis of 500 watersheds found levels of organic carbon, phosphorus, and other pollutants up to 103 times higher after a wildfire.
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A New Satellite Material Comes Out of the Woodwork
With lessons learned from their first attempt, Kyoto University scientists hope a second CubeSat made of magnolia will spark an age of wooden spacecraft.
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Years-Old Groundwater Dominates Spring Mountain Streams
Alpine rain and snow take much longer to percolate into western U.S. streams than previously thought, adding complexity to long-standing hydrologic models.
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Warming Gulf of Maine Buffers Ocean Acidification—For Now
Scientists constructed a 100-year history of acidity in the Gulf of Maine. They expected coastal variability but were surprised by what they didn’t find: a strong anthropogenic signal.
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New Satellite Adds Evidence of an Earth-Shaking Wave
A tsunami struck a fjord in East Greenland in 2023, ringing seismometers for nine straight days. A new satellite study provides the first observational evidence of the waves.