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an overhead view of Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone
We finally know where the Yellowstone volcano will erupt next A detailed look at Yellowstone's magma storage system finds that only one region is likely to host liquid magma in the long term.
a photo of an angel oak tree
'Rising temperatures melted corpses out of the Antarctic permafrost': The rise of one of Earth's most iconic trees in an uncertain world As the Atlantic grew wider, the ancestral population of all of today's oaks may have been straddling the continents of the Northern Hemisphere. If so, the ancestor of the oaks we know today was a widespread population that was cleaved in half as North America inched westward.
a rocky shore on the Great Lakes
Scientists find hidden 'hotspot' that helped create the Great Lakes before North America even existed A hotspot that now lies in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was once under the Great Lakes, and may explain why they formed where they did.

Latest about Planet Earth

Stock image of Shigatse in Tibet prior to the earthquake on Jan. 7.

Tibet earthquake: Deadly magnitude 7.1 quake hits holy city of Shigatse

By Patrick Pester published

A huge magnitude 7.1 earthquake has hit the holy city of Shigatse, or Xigazê, in the autonomous region of Tibet in China.

Earthquakes
A satellite image of a lagoon along a coastline

Pakistan's 'bleeding ink' lagoon brings life to harsh desert environment

By Harry Baker published

Earth from space This 2014 satellite photo shows Pakistan's Khor Kalmat tidal lagoon brimming with water at the heart of an arid desert. This fluctuating body of water, which looks like "ink bleeding onto parchment," helps support life in this harsh environment.

Earth from space
a rocky shore on the Great Lakes

Scientists find hidden 'hotspot' that helped create the Great Lakes before North America even existed

By Stephanie Pappas published

A hotspot that now lies in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean was once under the Great Lakes, and may explain why they formed where they did.

Geology

What is thundersnow? The weird weather phenomenon rumbling through the East Coast and Midwest

By Pandora Dewan published

The conditions needed to create thunderstorms are very rare, and can be dangerous, meteorologists warn.

Weather
Simushir Island, part of the Kuril islands, where the 1831 mystery eruption took place.

Mysterious climate-changing eruption that turned the sun blue traced to remote Pacific island

By Patrick Pester published

Zavaritskii volcano in the Kuril Islands was responsible for the mysterious 1831 volcanic eruption that cooled the climate and turned the sun different colors, a new study finds.

Volcanos
an aerial view of an Antarctic volcano

Antarctica ice melt could cause 100 hidden volcanoes to erupt

By Madeline Reinsel, Eos.org published

More than 100 volcanoes lurk beneath the surface in Antarctica. Ice sheet melt could set them off.

Antarctica
Split image of volcano and extreme winter storms

Polar vortices and volcanoes undersea

By Pandora Dewan published

Science news this week Jan. 3, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Science news this week
View of Tristan da Cunha from the ocean with Edinburgh of the Seven Seas on the shore. A seabird flies in the image's foreground.

Tristan da Cunha: The most remote inhabited island on Earth, forged from a supercontinent breakup

By Sascha Pare published

Tristan da Cunha is a group of islands in the South Atlantic that formed from the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana. Today, it's home to a tiny and extremely isolated farming community.

Geology
A bathymetric image of the Axial volcano

Undersea volcano off Oregon coast could erupt this year, geologists predict

By Stephanie Pappas published

Axial, an undersea volcano off the coast of Oregon is probably going to erupt in 2025.

Volcanos
A stock image of a young woman walking through a snow storm.

Polar vortex could bring deadly winter storms and coldest weather in more than a decade to US

By Patrick Pester published

An expanding polar vortex is expected to lower temperatures across the eastern half of the U.S., with the potential for record-breaking cold in January.

Weather
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