Earth
- Chemistry
Some bacteria in wastewater can break down a common plastic
These microbes can break the carbon bonds that make PET plastics so hard to degrade. This type of plastic makes up almost one-third of plastic waste.
- Climate
2024 set new record for hottest year, passing a dangerous heat threshold
For the first year in recorded history, Earth’s average temperature topped 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Avulsion
As rivers seek out easier routes to the sea, path reroutes can transform our world. This is ‘avulsion’ refers to in geology. In medicine, the word can describe injuries.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Lava bomb
An explosive volcanic eruption can shoot a blob of lava into the air. As that blob travels, it cools, creating a dangerous lava bomb.
- Oceans
The world’s largest coral is longer than a blue whale
Scientists found the coral off the coast of the Solomon Islands.
- Climate
Meet Chonkus, a mutant microbe that could help fight climate change
A hulking marine cyanobacterium, Chonkus has traits that appears to make it especially good for storing away carbon on the ocean floor.
- Ecosystems
There’s life beneath the snow — but it’s at risk of melting away
The organisms that make winter homes in this subnivium help forests thrive year-round. But climate change is making this ecosystem disappear.
- Climate
Why is Los Angeles on fire?
High heat and little rain have extended wildfire season to year-round in some parts of California. Fast winds and dry conditions are fueling L.A.’s current infernos.
- Materials Science
This teen materials scientist wants to save the Great Salt Lake
Thermo Fisher JIC finalist Sophia Zhang investigated hydrogels that might conserve water in farming — a big stressor of the lake’s water supply.
- Earth
Scientists Say: Frost Quake
When wet soil abruptly freezes, it creates high pressure underground. When the pressure releases, it can trigger a mini-earthquake called a frost quake.
- Tech
To stay cool, some future homes may build on past power-free tech
Accordion-pleated walls and other heat-managing structures could cool homes in hot, dry places naturally — without electricity.
- Earth
A landslide in a Greenland fjord echoed around Earth for 9 days
Warming permafrost and glacial melt destabilized a fragile mountain slope, leading to a landslide-triggered tsunami in a fjord. Is this a sign of more to come?
