Why do deserts get so cold at night? By Harry Baker Desert temperatures can fluctuate greatly between day and night, due to the poor heat-retaining properties of sand and a lack of humidity.
Disastrous Houston blackouts captured from space By Nicoletta Lanese More than one million people lost power in the Houston area.
Earth's magnetic field flipped 42,000 years ago, creating a climate 'disaster' By Mindy Weisberger Earth's last magnetic flip 42,000 years brought environmental change and extinctions. Could that happen now?
Dinosaur-killing space rock may have originated at the edge of the solar system By Stephanie Pappas The chunk of space rock that killed the nonavian dinosaurs may have been a piece of a comet that Jupiter's gravity kicked onto a collision course with Earth.
Lakes beneath the Antarctic ice could be teeming with microbial life By Nicoletta Lanese Heat from the Earth's interior may help sustain life in this bizarre environment.
Bermuda's hurricanes are twice as strong as they were six decades ago By Harry Baker Hurricanes have more than doubled in strength since 1955, increasing at a rate of 6mph every decade. Now researchers better understand exactly why.
World's largest iceberg disintegrates into 'alphabet soup,' NASA photo shows By Brandon Specktor The world's largest iceberg has disintegrated into an 'alphabet soup' of mini ice island, new NASA imagery shows.
Rare snow covers Acropolis of Athens in dazzling white blanket By Stephanie Pappas Unusual weather blanketed the Acropolis with snow on Tuesday (Feb. 16), turning the iconic UNESCO World Heritage site in Athens into a scene from a holiday card.
Spectacular 45-foot-tall 'ice volcano' appears in Kazakhstan By Patrick Pester An 'ice volcano' has formed above a hot spring in the Almaty region of southeastern Kazakhstan. What is causing this unusual phenomenon?
Snow blankets Hawaii volcanoes in stunning satellite image By Harry Baker Hawaii has seen the second-largest covering of snow on the mountain peaks of Big Island since recordings began.
Earth's mountains disappeared for a billion years, and then life stopped evolving By Brandon Specktor For a billion years Earth's mountains stopped growing, and may have starved the sea of nutrients, new research finds.
'Rivers of gold' rush through the Peruvian Amazon in stunning NASA photo By Brandon Specktor An ISS astronaut got a perfect view of the gold prospecting pits in the Peruvian Amazon.
What is ozone? By Adam Mann Exploring the molecule known as ozone, which can both protect and harm us here on Earth.
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.
