Earth
- Environment
‘Mining’ cryptocurrencies pollutes the real world
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies exist only online. Yet the environmental impacts of their networks affect the real world.
- Environment
How we choose to pay has hidden costs for the planet
Whether cash or credit, phone apps or digital currencies — all forms of payment have behind-the-scenes costs. And these can vary dramatically.
- Environment
Bees and butterflies struggle to find flowers in polluted air
Emissions from cars and trucks make it harder for insects to find flowers. That in turn reduces flower visits and pollination, a new study finds.
- Environment
Widely used pesticides may threaten Earth’s ozone layer
Data show a major class of long-used “eco-friendly” copper chemicals unexpectedly react with soil, making gases harmful to Earth’s protective ozone layer.
- Earth
Let’s learn about tornadoes
Tornadoes are often spawned by thunderstorms — but can also emerge from hurricanes and wildfires.
- Environment
Scientists Say: Pollution
Pollution is any substance or form of energy released into the environment that is harmful to people or other living creatures.
- Environment
Clothes dryers may be a major source of airborne microplastics
Scientists thought washing machines were a leading contributor of microplastics. Now it appears dryers may be an even bigger problem.
- Physics
Explainer: Gravity and microgravity
The force of gravity holds us on the ground, keeps planets in orbit and extends throughout space. A very weak gravitational pull is called microgravity.
- Science & Society
Let’s learn about the science of the Winter Olympics
From scientific innovations to climate change and weather, there’s plenty of science to be found among the feats of amazing athleticism.
- Earth
Volcanic avalanches may be more destructive than previously thought
Pressures within these pyroclastic flows may be as much as three times as high as observations had suggested.
- Animals
Living mysteries: Why teeny-weeny tardigrades are tough as nails
Tardigrades often live in cool, damp moss. Their cushy life has somehow prepared them to survive the lethal radiation of outer space.
- Earth
The ‘Doomsday’ glacier may soon trigger a dramatic sea-level rise
The ice shelf that had kept it in place could fail within five years. That would speed the glacier’s slip into the ocean, boosting a rise in sea levels.
