Studies since 2018 have provided competing explanations of bright radar reflections from the base of the south polar ice cap.
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African World Heritage Sites Jeopardized by Rising Seas
Worsening flooding and erosion threaten places of “outstanding universal value” along the continent’s coastlines.
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A New Mayflower, Named for the Past, Autonomously Navigates the Future
To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Pilgrims’ crossing, a ship guided by an AI captain will embark on the same journey, doing science along the way.
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What a Gold Mining Mishap Taught Us About Rivers
Miners in Alaska rerouted a river to search for gold. One hundred years later, the new channel is teaching scientists how rivers shape Earth.
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Did Volcanoes Accelerate the Fall of Chinese Dynasties?
After analyzing ice cores and historical documents, researchers found a link between eruptions and political change in China over the past 2 millennia.
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Sediments Suggest Vikings May Have Been the First to Settle the Azores
A multidisciplinary team studying lake sediments and climate change found evidence that the archipelago was inhabited 700 years earlier than historical sources claim.
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Ancient Eruptions Reveal Earliest Settlers on the Faroe Islands
Lake sediment is helping scientists resolve a decades-long historical mystery.
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Roman-Era Millstone and Mixer Makers Knew Their Rocks
The geochemistry of basalt millstones and mixers from the city of Volubilis suggests a local origin—and that rocks were picked for specific purposes, from crushing olives to mixing dough.
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Māori Arrival in New Zealand Revealed in Antarctic Ice Cores
A new study shows smoke from fires set by the first inhabitants of Aotearoa from around 1300 left a mark in the ice 6,000 kilometers away, on an island off the Antarctic Peninsula.
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Greener, Wetter Arabia Was a Crossroads of Early Human Migration
Hand axes, hippo bones, and a stack of ancient lake beds show that arid Arabia experienced intervals of humid weather, spurring pulses of human migration over the past 400,000 years.