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When was the last time Antarctica was ice-free?
Antarctica is covered by a miles-thick ice sheet, but was that always the case? And when was the coldest continent ice-free?
Vanuatu's 'barefoot volcanologist' stands at ash- and sulfur-spewing Mount Yasur in award-winning photograph
Elle Leontiev's image of Philip, a self-taught volcanologist who has lived on Mount Yasur his whole life, has won the Portraiture category of the Open competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2026.
3 rivers merge into striking half-and-half waterway in Guyana
Earth from space A 2023 satellite photo highlights the point where a trio of rivers converges in Guyana. One of the waterways has been significantly altered by mining waste, creating a striking color contrast.
Incomplete remains of world's 'youngest' impact crater spotted lurking in Chinese forest
Earth from space A 2021 satellite photo shows off the recently uncovered Yilan crater in China, which is most likely the youngest impact structure on Earth. The incomplete ring is also the largest of its kind and only the second impact crater ever found in the country.
How can deserts form next to oceans?
Deserts are notoriously dry, so why do so many of them border oceans?
Ancient 'Asgard' microbe may have used oxygen long before it was plentiful on Earth, offering new clue to origins of complex life
A new study suggests that ancient microbes once cast as oxygen haters may have actually learned to use the gas, offering a clue to how the first complex cells — and, eventually, all plants and animals — evolved.
Solar flares may be triggering earthquakes, controversial study claims
Researchers have proposed that changes in Earth's ionosphere could trigger electrical forces that nudge fragile areas of the crust into creating an earthquake.
The biggest trees in the Peruvian Amazon store the most carbon — and they also face the greatest threat from humans
The Amazon's biggest trees store disproportionately more carbon than smaller trees do, new study finds. But in the Peruvian Amazon, large trees are currently prioritized for harvest.
Missing megaflood: How did the Mediterranean transform from a salt-filled bowl to a deep sea if it wasn't a cataclysmic deluge?
Researchers have long believed that a sudden, massive deluge filled a dry, salt-filled Mediterranean 5 million years ago. Turns out that probably didn't happen, but there was still drama aplenty.
