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Barreleye fish: The deep-sea weirdo with rotating eyes and a see-through headAmazing animals Thanks to a yellow pigment that filters out sunlight, barreleyes can't be fooled by a common deep-sea camouflage tactic.
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10 minutes is all it takes for AI assistance to erode your motivation, study showsIn a set of problem-solving experiments, researchers found that people who used AI to get answers were more likely to give up and fail when that help was removed, compared with people who did not use AI.
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Surprising new pattern of groundwater loss may signal a turning point for the Colorado River BasinDuring an intense drought from 2020 to 2022, the Upper Colorado River Basin lost far more groundwater than the Lower Basin did, despite having much higher natural recharge.
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'The Russians were the problem in the end': Sailor Matt Rutherford on being intercepted by the FSB while attempting to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean soloInterview Live Science spoke with Matt Rutherford, a sailor and founder of the environmental nonprofit Ocean Research Project, about his attempt to circumnavigate the Arctic Ocean and why he'll have to try again next year.
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The central Pacific Ocean just broke a temperature record. Experts say it might signal a new kind of El Niño.The sea surface temperature in a key El Niño region has exceeded 86 degrees F for the first time on record, hinting that the strength and location of some El Niño events are transforming.
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The ozone layer was supposed to be healing. So why is this year's Antarctic ozone hole so big?Analysis The ozone hole above Antarctica is unusually large right now, and it might signal a shift in how the gap in Earth's protective layer behaves.
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Powerful 'Kelvin wave' triggered by super El Niño threatens to raise sea levels off the California coast for monthsA disturbance characterized by above-normal sea levels is spreading up the Pacific coast of Central and North America, and it could make the damage from predicted storms this winter much worse.
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The super El Niño could cause torrential rainstorms. Americans may need to stock up on food to prepare, experts say.Analysis A U.K. government minister has urged people in Britain to stock up on essentials to prepare for storms magnified by the record-breaking El Niño. Should Americans heed the same advice?
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Earth's first bats didn't come from where we thought, landmark genetic study revealsIn the largest study of its kind to date, researchers compiled data from 103 bat genomes and 44 fossils to rewrite the bat family tree and determine where these animals first evolved.
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'It has become very dire in a lot of places': New map reveals exactly where humans are adding and removing precious fresh water on EarthA new high-resolution map of global freshwater trends between 2002 and 2025 has sharpened scientists' understanding of how humans are using and displacing our most precious resource.
planet-earth -
Scientists identify 'sweet spot' for early stage of life on Earth that preceded LUCA, the ancestor of all living thingsNew research has pinned down the onset of the "RNA World," a hypothetical time in Earth's very early history when RNA was the primary replicating substance.
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'It is extremely rare to witness': Scientists record humpback whale mom grieving her stillborn calf in first-of-its-kind footageResearchers in Australia captured footage of a female humpback whale repeatedly diving to make eye contact with her stillborn calf and lay next to its body on the seafloor.
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'Oddly shaped rock' unearthed in California turns out to be 'immaculate' mastodon molarA field survey in San Mateo County, California, has revealed the fossilized tooth of an adult Pacific mastodon, an ice-age giant that was probably native to the West Coast.
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'There are no easy answers here': New study forecasts a dire dip in food production if key Atlantic currents collapseResearchers have examined how weakening currents in the Atlantic Ocean could impact global agriculture — and the results are concerning.
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Record-breaking rain in California was caused by abnormally high temperatures on the other side of the world, study findsScientists have identified a "climate teleconnection" between the Rocky Mountains and the Tibetan Plateau, where warm spots left a kink in the jet stream that intensifed weather in the western U.S.
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Arctic warming fuels 2 distinct climate regimes in Siberia that could wake up a methane 'sleeping giant'New research finds that western Siberia is becoming wetter as the world warms, while eastern Siberia seems to be getting drier. And both these conditions are fueling a rise in methane emissions, spelling trouble for the climate.
climate-change -
'A worrying snapshot': Satellite image shows large patches of open water less than 40 miles from the North PoleAn image from NASA Worldview shows how brittle Arctic sea ice is becoming due to global warming, with large patches of open water visible near the North Pole on Aug. 29.
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An ancient 'supervolcano' has been found hiding beneath eastern England. But experts say there's not enough evidence to call it that.Geologists recently identified a 454.4 million-year-old volcano on England's east coast, but whether the structure can be considered a "supervolcano" remains an open question.
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The pace of climate change matters more than overall heat in the race to save key Atlantic currents, study findsThe rate of global warming, rather than the extra heat itself, could determine whether a system of ocean currents known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation will cross a tipping point, new research suggests.
climate-change -
'They don't deserve this beauty and this breathtaking fragility'Interview Polar tourism researchers Zdenka Sokolickova and Liz Cooper talk about why a number of Antarctic tour guides have given up what they still consider to be their dream job.
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'If this is the new normal, then we are in very deep trouble': Brazil's drying aquifers could have ripple effects across the worldAnalysis New research suggests some of Brazil's most important aquifers, located beneath major agricultural regions, aren't being replenished. What does this mean for the country's water supply and food exports?
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'They would come in with a chord change': Composer Jim Nollman has collaborated with turkeys, kangaroo rats and whales. Now he's dropping 'Orcas' Greatest Hits.'Interview Staff writer Sascha Pare spoke with musical composer and sound artist Jim Nollman about his new album, "Orcas' Greatest Hits," created with killer-whale bandmates.
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Uberaba Geopark: A time capsule from the Late Cretaceous period nestled in Brazil's tropical savannaIncredible Places Uberaba Geopark, also known as the "Land of the Giants," is a region in Brazil's Cerrado biome that preserved thousands of prehistoric fossils.
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'It would be a disaster': Ammunition for war is putting the Caspian Sea on the brink of collapseInterview Live Science spoke with professor of civil and environmental engineering Amir AghaKouchak about the reasons behind the Caspian Sea's stark decline over the past three decades.
Interview
