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What is El Niño?
By Aimee Gabay published
El Niño is a climate cycle in which waters off the tropical eastern Pacific are warmer than usual, which in turn affects global weather patterns.

Equinox: Definition, facts & what happens during one
By Sarah Wild last updated
REFERENCE Equinoxes occur twice a year when the sun is directly above the equator, and herald the beginning of spring and autumn.

Scientists in China find mysterious virus at the bottom of the Mariana Trench
By Ben Turner published
Researchers have found a new virus, identified as a bacteriophage, at a depth of 29,199 feet (8,900 meters).

Earth's biggest cache of pink diamonds formed in the breakup of the 1st supercontinent 'Nuna'
By Stephanie Pappas published
The Argyle formation in Australia, which hosts 90% of the world's pink diamonds, formed when the first supercontinent broke up.

Watch slime-covered penis mushroom that smells like rotting flesh grow and decay in mesmerizing time-lapse
By Sascha Pare published
A video of a stinkhorn fungus — a 10-inch penis-shaped mushroom — bursting from the ground, growing and decaying has been captured in a forest in Germany.

Asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs allowed flowers to thrive in a post-apocalyptic world
By Patrick Pester published
Scientists have discovered flowering plants were largely unscathed by the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) mass extinction event 66 million years ago, allowing them to take advantage of the new, dinosaur-free planet.

Hurricane season 2023: How long it lasts and what to expect
By Tia Ghose last updated
This guide to the Atlantic hurricane season of 2023, includes predictions, tropical storm science, naming conventions and storm safety tips.

Mystery of 'living fossil' tree frozen in time for 66 million years finally solved
By Richard Pallardy published
The Wollemi pine was thought to have gone extinct 2 million years ago until it was rediscovered by a group of hikers in 1994. Now, scientists have decoded its genome to understand how it's survived — almost unchanged — since the time of the dinosaurs.

World's 1st mountaintop impact crater discovered in northeastern China
By Stephanie Pappas published
A two-peaked mountain in northeastern China is the site of the world's first confirmed mountaintop crater.

Team Egg or Team Sponge? Scientists divided over identity of mysterious golden orb from bottom of ocean
By Hannah Osborne published
The weird gold dome-shaped object was found during an NOAA expedition to the Gulf of Mexico and is now being preserved in ethanol until it can be sent for laboratory analysis.
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