World's ugliest orchid looks like a soul-sucking, eyeless worm By Mindy Weisberger Orchids are usually prized for their loveliness, but a newly described species is no beauty.
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts with dramatic lava fountains By Jeanna Bryner Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupted beginning Sunday (Dec. 20) night local time, with dramatic lava fountains and huge puffs of gas and steam being launched from the summit crater called Halema'uma'u.
Here's the science of the winter solstice By Laura Geggel Today's winter solstice will boast the year's fewest hours of daylight for the Northern Hemisphere. Here's why.
The world's largest iceberg has just broken in two By Rafi Letzter A chunk of ice about the size of Queens and the Bronx combined has broken off what was, until this fracture, the world's largest iceberg.
Unsafe levels of radiation found in Chernobyl crops By Harry Baker Crops grown near the Chernobyl nuclear site in Ukraine are still contaminated with radiation from the explosive 1986 disaster.
Top 10 deadliest natural disasters in history By Stephanie Pappas, Tiffany Means Here are the world's most deadliest earthquakes, cyclones and floods.
Ötzi the Iceman may have scaled ice-free Alps By Stephanie Pappas Many Alpine summits may have been ice-free before about 5,900 years ago.
Huge methane cache beneath Arctic could be unlocked by the moon By Patrick Pester The moon's tides affect how much methane is released from seafloor sediments and the implications are huge.
Nor'easter could drop a foot of snow on New England By Nicoletta Lanese The storm follows last year's mild winter with below-average snowfall.
Red Sea oil tanker 4 times as big as Exxon Valdez could spill any day now By Rafi Letzter A mammoth oil tanker is decaying into the Red Sea, threatening to pollute the water supply of millions of people and the world's most resilient coral reef.
US could reach 'net-zero' carbon by 2050. Here's how. By Rafi Letzter The U.S. can cut its carbon output to zero by the middle of the 21th century, according to a major new Princeton University study. It might even save money.
The UK is sending robot submarines to watch the world’s largest iceberg crash into an island By Brandon Specktor The world’s largest iceberg appears days away from crashing into a penguin-filled island. These robots will study the aftermath.
The only total solar eclipse of 2020 may be one few get a chance to see By Joe Rao It would only seem appropriate that the final eclipse in this eccentric year of 2020 will be visible only from Patagonia — nicknamed "the end of the world."
What's behind the mysterious, earth-shaking boom of the 'Seneca Guns'? By Mindy Weisberger Scientists investigated the unexplained booming sounds known as "Seneca Guns," heard near coastal North Carolina.
Massive supercontinent will form hundreds of millions of years from now By Mindy Weisberger Scientists are modeling when Earth's next supercontinent phase will begin, and how that could affect global climate.
How will sea levels change with climate change? By Dani Leviss Sea level changes are not happening uniformly across Earth's oceans. Here's why.
World's largest iceberg still barreling toward penguin habitat, new footage confirms By Brandon Specktor Iceberg A-68a is just a few hundred miles from crashing into South Georgia island, new photos from the Royal Air Force reveal.
How to watch the northern lights across far northern US tonight By Stephanie Pappas The forecast isn't certain, but some in the U.S. might get a rare glance at the aurora.
Dramatic transformation of the Arctic landscape may be permanent By Mindy Weisberger From vanishing sea ice to blistering air temperatures to zombie fires, climate change is reshaping the Arctic. And that transformation may be permanent, researchers said.