Lava tubes in Hawaii could be a dress rehearsal for Mars colonies By Mindy Weisberger Exploring volcanic lava tubes in Hawaii helps researchers understand how humans should prepare for living and working on worlds other than Earth.
Scientists detect world's coldest cloud hovering over Pacific Ocean By Yasemin Saplakoglu A severe thunderstorm cloud that formed over the Pacific Ocean in 2018 reached the coldest temperatures ever recorded.
How the 'Worm Moon' helped free the stuck ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal By Meghan Bartels It took a little help from the full moon to free the massive Ever Given cargo ship from its perch stranded across the Suez Canal.
3 Russian nuclear submarines simultaneously punch through Arctic ice By Tom Metcalfe Here's why the naval maneuver is so tricky.
Indonesian oil refinery ignites into towering inferno By Harry Baker An oil refinery in Indonesia has caught fire after an oil leak that may have been ignited by a lightning strike.
A remnant of a protoplanet may be hiding inside Earth By Nicoletta Lanese A protoplanet called Theia crashed into Earth 4.5 billion years ago
Scientists find deep-sea bacteria that are invisible to the human immune system By Ben Turner The researchers say the discovery will give them new insights into how the immune system works, as well as enabling them to revise some of the most basic assumptions of immunology.
The huge ship stuck in the Suez Canal seen in photos from space By Mike Wall A massive container ship's embarrassing and inconvenient predicament is visible from space.
Hidden boundaries of lost continent 'Zealandia' revealed in incredible detail By Stephanie Pappas The lost continent is a submerged chunk of crust that broke off from Gondwana 80 million years ago.
Rare daytime fireball meteor creates massive sonic boom over UK By Harry Baker A rare fireball meteor bright enough to be seen during the day triggered a massive sonic boom over parts of the UK and France.
How to spot aliens? Look at Earth, scientists propose. By Mindy Weisberger Revisiting how Earth looks from space could offer scientists clues for finding alien life on distant worlds.
Read a free issue of How It Works magazine! By Jeanna Bryner Our sister publication is the action-packed magazine that’s bursting with the answers to your curious questions
Drone footage reveals dramatic Iceland volcanic eruption By Ben Turner After a 900-year nap, a volcano in Iceland erupted Friday (March 19), spewing tendrils of molten lava down its flanks and bathing the cloudy night sky in an ominous orange-red.
World's oldest meteor crater isn't what it seems By Harry Baker The world's oldest meteor impact crater is not a crater at all, say scientists of a new study suggesting natural forces put the giant indent into Earth's surface. But the jury is still out.
Spring returns with a not-so-equal vernal equinox of 2021 By Joe Rao Spring will officially arrive on Saturday morning (March 20) with the occurrence of the vernal equinox.
Scientists uncover Antarctic sea creatures 'trapped under ice' for 50 years By Brandon Specktor When a gargantuan iceberg calved off of Antarctica last month, it revealed a bustling community of sea life for the first time in decades.
What is an equinox? By Sarah Wild Equinoxes occur twice a year when the sun is directly above the equator, and signal herald the beginning of spring and autumn.
Why Russian scientists just deployed a giant telescope beneath Lake Baikal By Stephanie Pappas The enormous Baikal-GVD will look for the particles from 4,300 feet (1,310 meters) below the lake surface.
Billions of lightning bolts may have jump-started life on Earth, study suggests By Brandon Specktor Lightning storms on early Earth may have given the planet enough phosphorus to craft the first DNA and RNA molecules, study suggests
Top-secret Cold War military project found perfectly preserved fossil plants under Greenland ice By Mindy Weisberger Plant fossils that may be a million years old hint that Greenland's icy shell melted away more recently than expected — and could melt again.
