Yellowstone's Supervolcano Has Stranger Plumbing Than We Thought
Decades of textbook explanation, overturned by a 3D model of rock flow miles beneath the American West.
Earth Sciences
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.
Underwater Volcano Coughed Up 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Magma
Mayotte's newborn volcano erupted a chemical echo of Earth's molten infancy.
One Bag of Cheetos Nearly Broke a Cave That Took Millions of Years to Build
A cave that survived millions of years of geological time met its match in a dropped snack bag. What does it take to break an ecosystem this old?
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.
When It Rains, It Bites
What do a warmer atmosphere, a heavy rainstorm, and a bull shark near shore have in common? More than anyone swimming at dusk wants to know.
An Earthquake's Echo Moved an Entire Country
A 15-year-old ghost signal in Japan's earthquake data finally has an answer and it leads straight to the center of the Earth.
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.
Utah's 1979 Earthquake Broke a Geological Rule
A quake that stumped seismologists for 47 years has been confirmed as a rare continental mantle earthquake, which wasn't supposed to be possible.
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.
We Moved the Planet. Slightly. With Irrigation.
Researchers needed 2,150 gigatons of missing groundwater to make their models match reality. What they found when they added it in was the planet itself, quietly keeping score.
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.
Our Ancestors Were Apparently Fine With Freezing
The jungle origin story for primates was wrong. Their actual birthplace was cold, seasonal North America — and the survival strategy may still live in us.
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?
Lawrence Livermore Built a Mini Nuclear Fireball
Fallout models built on Cold War bomb tests assumed orderly chemistry. A controlled lab experiment shows the reality is far messier.