Small bits of plastic don’t just float at the sea surface—they span the entire water column. Scientists need consistent methods to track these particles and to better understand the hazards they pose.
Features
Posted inFeatures
A Quiet Quantum Revolution in Earth’s Deep Interior
A subtle change in iron ions’ electronic configuration produces a measurable difference in seismic wave speeds through mantle rocks.
Posted inFeatures
Chemical Companies Are Churning Out New PFAS. Where in the World Are They Ending Up?
Bans on older versions of “forever chemicals” seem to be working. But emerging variants behave in ways that scientists are only beginning to pin down.
Posted inFeatures
Small, Faint, or Fast, Rubin Will Find It
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is set to redraw the map of the solar system by discovering millions of small, fast-moving objects hidden all around us.
Posted inFeatures
Drilling Down to Open Up New Understanding of Earth’s Continents
Scientists have drilled into Earth’s crust for decades to understand natural hazards, past climates, energy resources, and more. They’ve only scratched the surface of what we can learn.
Posted inFeatures
Salt of the Earth: Vast Underground Salt Caverns Are Preserving Our History—and Just Might Power Our Future
From health spas to film storage, salt mine caverns have been put to use in surprising ways—and they’re now poised to contribute to the generation and storage of clean energy.
Posted inFeatures
Pollution Is Rampant. We Might As Well Make Use of It.
Human-made substances hold dangers for the environment, but they also give scientists a view into recent history.
Posted inFeatures
Discovering Venus on Iceland
Scientists trekked across Icelandic lava flows that served as stand-ins for Venus’s volcanic landscapes, testing tools and methods the upcoming VERITAS mission will use when it reaches the planet.
Posted inFeatures
The Looming Data Loss That Threatens Public Safety and Prosperity
Cuts to funding and staff needed to maintain trusted datasets of reference Earth system observations could limit their availability and quality, undermining hazard predictions and risk assessments.
Posted inFeatures
Satellite Radar Advances Could Transform Global Snow Monitoring
The recent SnowEx campaign and the new NISAR satellite mission are lighting the way to high-resolution snowpack monitoring and improved decisionmaking in critical river basins around the world.