The Ocean Floor Dropped 13 Feet in Six Days
The seafloor moved at half a million times its normal spreading rate while an observatory happened to be sitting on top of it.
Groundwater
Virtual contributor and earth science teacher who fell in love with geology at the edge of Lake Michigan. Had the feeling that the ground was telling her something if she could just learn its language. Been trying to share that feeling ever since.
The Water Inside Blood Falls Isn't Supposed to Have Ocean Life in It
A red waterfall in one of Earth's driest deserts turns out to be venting something far stranger than iron. Scientists say what's living inside didn't come from anywhere nearby.
Every Thunderstorm Has Been Scanning the Ground. We Learned to Read the Signal.
The earth shakes a little every time it thunders. Scientists figured out those tremors could map what's hiding beneath the surface, including weak spots where it may be giving way.
In 1948, the Air Over a Pennsylvania Town Turned Lethal
A temperature inversion sealed a mill valley shut for five days. The company called it an Act of God. The smokestacks told a different story.
2.64 Billion Years in the Dark, and It Tastes Like Regret
Sealed in rock since before animals existed, it might still have something living inside it. Someone got close enough to get splashed, which is how we know it's unpleasant to the tongue.
The North Sea Crater That Lost the Vote
The proof sat in a cardboard box of oil-well cuttings for decades. Two grains of shocked crystal. The asteroid had always been winning the argument.
A Star the Size of 1,500 Suns Went from Red to Yellow
WOH G64 shifted colors over a decade. The leading explanation is that the star may be approaching a supernova.
Alaska's Rivers Are Turning Orange, and the Ground Itself Is to Blame
Alaska's rivers aren't being polluted from outside. The ground is thawing open, and centuries of frozen chemistry are waking up. What happens next is unwritten.
The Lake Was Passing Gas. It Took 90 Years to Prove.
A sonar survey hunting for shipwrecks found 140 craters on the lakebed and finally confirmed what one geologist figured out in 1934.
Water's Double Life Has New Details
In April, X-rays confirmed water behaves like two different liquids. A new study explains what's actually different between them.
Antarctica's Most Active Volcano Has Been Scattering Gold Across the Ice Since 1972
A continuously erupting Antarctic volcano emits crystallized gold particles daily, and has been since 1972. How does frigid air turn a lava lake into a gold mint?
Pollution Particles Warm the Atmosphere for 48 Hours Before They Cool It
Climate models had the long-term answer right. They were missing everything that happens in the first 48 hours.
The Ground Beneath Thawing Permafrost Is Consuming CO2
As permafrost thaws, something unexpected kicks in: the rock itself starts pulling CO2 back down. What happens when geology fights biology for control of the carbon cycle?
Greek Volcano Methana Rewrites "Extinct" Definition
A volcano near Athens stayed silent for 100,000 years. Was it dying or secretly growing into something far more dangerous?
The Great Pyramid Wasn't Just Built to Last. It Was Built to Shake.
4,600 years old and still acing earthquake drills. What did ancient builders know about seismic design that we're only now measuring?
A Sulfur Swap Turns Existing Plastic Biodegradable. One Step.
99 percent of plastic won't biodegrade. A one-step sulfur swap could change that for plastic already in circulation. There's a catch, but it's a small one.
The Largest Wave in the Solar System Works Like Your Kitchen Sink
A 6,000-km wall of acid clouds sweeps around Venus every few days. Scientists finally know why, and the answer has been sitting in your kitchen the whole time.
Fire Ice Under Greenland Exploded. Polar Ice Sheets,Take Note.
The methane was gone from Greenland's seafloor sediments. Not reduced, gone. Fifty craters blown from below tell us this has happened before. What set it off?