18 dead and hundreds missing in catastrophic Himalayan avalanche By Brandon Specktor Part of a glacier collapsed in the Indian Himalayas, triggering an avalanche that destroyed one dam and damaged another. Hundreds are feared missing or dead.
Diamonds need an electric zap to crystallize deep inside Earth By Laura Geggel A lab experiment mimicking mantle conditions revealed how diamonds need an electric field to grow.
Seas will likely rise even faster than worst-case scenarios predicted by climate models By Rafi Letzter Sea levels will probably rise faster than the most mainstream climate models predict, according to a new study.
Chemists create and capture einsteinium, the elusive 99th element By Harry Baker Scientists have finally uncovered some of the basic chemical properties of einsteinium — one of the hardest elements to study.
Arctic Ocean was once a tub of fresh water covered with a half-mile of ice By Stephanie Pappas At least twice, the Arctic Ocean was a freshwater pool cut off from other oceans and capped with almost 3,000 feet of ice.
Video catches split second before intense lightning strike By Nicoletta Lanese Scientists captured high-speed footage of the moment before lightning strikes.
What is plate tectonics? By Becky Oskin, Tiffany Means Blame plate tectonics for Earth’s mountains, earthquakes, volcanoes, and why its continents fit together like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle.
World's largest iceberg shatters into a dozen pieces By Brandon Specktor The world's largest iceberg broke off of Antarctica in 2017; now, it's shattering into more than a dozen pieces.
4-year-old discovers impressive dinosaur footprint on Wales beach By Stephanie Pappas A dinosaur track found by a 4-year-old on a Welsh beach belongs to one of the earliest dinos.
Greenland is careening toward a critical tipping point for ice loss By Mindy Weisberger The Greenland Ice Sheet is one of the largest ice sheets in the world. But it might not be for much longer, if Earth continues to warm.
635 million-year-old fossil is the oldest known land fungus By Mindy Weisberger More than half-a-billion years ago, ancient terrestrial fungus may have helped Earth recover from a catastrophic ice age.
The Atlantic Ocean is widening. Here’s why. By Yasemin Saplakoglu Sizzling-hot rocks are rising up and pushing on the plates on either side of the Atlantic.
Soap bubble freezes into an iridescent snow globe in cool new video By Nicoletta Lanese The whole bubble freezes over, creating a beautiful "snow globe" effect.
Martian mineral, rare on Earth, found locked in Antarctic ice By Nicoletta Lanese The mineral likely formed from dust trapped in the ice.
Doomsday Clock stands at 100 seconds to midnight By Mindy Weisberger The Doomsday Clock — a hypothetical clock that measures our nearness to utter annihilation, represented by the midnight hour — maintains last year's time.
Rock collector finds rare gemstone that looks like Cookie Monster By Stephanie Pappas An agate discovered in Brazil bears a remarkable resemblance to the Sesame Street muppet Cookie Monster.
Mystery of Greenland's expanding 'dark zone' finally solved By Harry Baker Scientists have discovered what causes the algal blooms that are responsible for the "dark zone" in Greenland's melting ice sheet.
Ice covers the Sahara Desert for just 4th time in 50 years By Brandon Specktor The dunes of the northwestern Sahara desert were streaked with ice on Tuesday, creating a surreal landscape
Hundreds of never-before-seen life-forms live in this 6,000-foot-deep volcano's acid jets By Brandon Specktor Researchers discover 300 novel microbes living near the blazing hot jets of an underwater volcano near New Zealand
Striking new video captures moment when Mount Etna recently erupted By Nicoletta Lanese The eruption lit up the night sky and dropped ash miles away.
