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Lake Natron: The caustic, blood-red lake in Tanzania that turns animals to 'stone'Lake Natron is a soda lake in northern Tanzania with a volcanic geology that maintains the water's pH around 10.5, which is almost as caustic as ammonia. Some life-forms thrive there nevertheless.
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Record-breaking piles of sargassum seaweed wash up on Caribbean beaches, with more on the wayRecord amounts of sargassum are floating in the Caribbean Sea and ending up on beaches from Puerto Rico to Guyana — but scientists aren't sure why there's so much of it in the first place.
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Earth's energy imbalance is rising much faster than scientists expected — and now researchers worry they might lose the means to figure out whyFor reasons still unknown, Earth's energy imbalance is rising much faster than models can account for. Now, scientists are calling for long-term investment in monitoring capability, so that they can make informed predictions about climate change.
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The closer a volcano is to erupting, the greener the trees around it look from spaceScientists have found a way to monitor volcanic carbon dioxide levels — one of the first signs a volcano might be about to blow — that doesn't involve trekking up a mountain.
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Kilimanjaro's giant groundsels: The strange plants that thrive on Africa's tallest mountainGiant groundsels are rare plants that grow up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall. They are endemic to the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, a dormant volcano in Tanzania and Africa's tallest mountain.
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Tropical storm Alvin will form in next 48 hours, forecasters say — kicking off this year's Pacific hurricane seasonA tropical storm is brewing over the Eastern Pacific south of Acapulco. Clouds and thunderstorms that have been gathering for days will organize in the next 48 hours and could develop into a hurricane.
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Insects: Facts about the creepy-crawlies that make up more than half of the world's animal speciesDiscover interesting facts about insects, the critters whose combined weight on the planet is 70 times that of all humans.
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The decline of key Atlantic currents is underway, and it's been flooding parts of the US for 20 yearsNew research has linked sea level rise and an increase in flooding in the U.S. Northeast over the past 20 years to the breakdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC).
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North America's 'broken heart': The billion-year-old scar from when the continent nearly ripped apartThe Midcontinent Rift is a giant tear that formed in what is now the U.S. Midwest 1.1 billion years ago. Nicknamed North America's "broken heart," it is filled with solidified magma and lava.
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Scientists think a hidden source of clean energy could power Earth for 170,000 years — and they've figured out the 'recipe' to find itResearchers have compiled a list of "ingredients" that could help resource exploration companies locate huge reservoirs of clean hydrogen, a critical element in the transition away from fossil fuels.
18 Commentsgeology -
See the reconstructed home of 'polar dinosaurs' that thrived in the Antarctic 120 million years agoFossil sites in Australia hold pollen and spores from the dinosaur age, when the island straddled the Antarctic Circle. Now, scientists have re-created the habitat of "polar dinosaurs," using these plant remains.
4 Commentsplants -
Big cats quiz: Can you get the lion's share of these questions right?Quiz How good is your knowledge of big cats? Let's find out if you've got the eye of the tiger in this quiz.
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Jellyfish Lake: Palau's saltwater pool with a toxic bottom and surface waters brimming with millions of jellyfishPalau's Jellyfish Lake is home to millions of endemic golden jellies that live in the lake's top layer but never venture below 50 feet, where the water is saturated with poisonous gas.
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Invasive Asian needle ants are surging in US Southeast — and their bite can trigger anaphylaxisAsian needle ants found in the southeastern states of the U.S. have been spreading north and west for years, but experts now consider them to be a medically important pest and urge caution.
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What's an 'omega block,' and why is it messing with US weather right now?A strange atmospheric pattern known as an "omega block" is preventing the usual eastward progression of weather across the U.S. — but what is this weird block, and when will it go away?
3 Commentsweather -
El Cono: The mysterious sacred 'pyramid' hidden deep in the Amazon rainforestCerro El Cono is a solitary, pyramidal hill in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest whose origins remain mysterious and that holds spiritual significance for Indigenous people.
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Oldest gold in the universe may come from a place scientists never expectedDead stars may have started churning out vast amounts of gold much earlier in the universe than previously thought, a new study hints. Powerful magnetar flares may be the reason.
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How related are dire wolves and gray wolves? The answer might surprise you.Recent findings indicate that dire wolves and gray wolves are distantly related, having diverged about 5.7 million years ago and, as far as scientists can tell, never interbred since then.
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Yellowstone holds potentially untapped cache of 'carbon-free' helium for rockets, reactors and superconductorsConventional helium production comes with enormous carbon emissions, so scientists are looking for alternatives in places like Yellowstone, Tanzania's Rukwa Rift and India's Bakreswar-Tantloi province.
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Corryvreckan whirlpool: Scotland's 'raging cauldron' that is named after a Norse king and said to house a witchThe Corryvreckan whirlpool is one of the largest whirlpools in the world, reaching speeds of 8.5 knots and producing a roaring sound that can be heard 10 miles away.
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Atlantic ocean currents are weakening — and it could make the climate in some regions unrecognizableA cold blob of water in the North Atlantic is an ominous sign that a system of currents that regulate the planet's climate could be weakening.
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Iran's folded rocks: The crumpled mountains at the intersection of Asia and EuropeIran's folded rocks are a colorful formation that is part of the Greater Caucasus mountains, which formed when the Eurasian tectonic plate collided with the Arabian plate millions of years ago.
geology -
'Quiet Chernobyl' changed Earth's surface so much the planet's mantle is still moving 80 years laterThe land beneath the former Aral Sea in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan is rising and will continue to do so for many decades. Now, scientists have an explanation that involves the sea drying up.
5 Commentsgeology -
'A relationship that could horrify Darwin': Mindy Weisberger on the skin-crawling reality of insect zombificationINTERVIEW Science writer Mindy Weisberger speaks to Live Science about the parasites that turn their hosts — whether ant, beetle or caterpillar — into zombie-like puppets that act against their own interests.
INTERVIEW
