Planet Earth

Recent breakthroughs suggest that hydrogen reservoirs are buried in countless regions of the world, including at least 30 U.S. states.Finding such reservoirs could help accelerate a global energy transition, but until now, geologists only had a piecemeal understanding of how large hydrogen accumulations form — and where to find them."The game of the moment is…

The discovery of buried "mud waves" off the coast of western Africa reveals that the Atlantic Ocean was born at least 4 million years earlier than scientists previously thought.These waves, each hundreds of feet high and over half a mile (1 kilometer) long, were caused by the mixing of extremely salty water from the southern…

Antarctica has gained ice in recent years, despite increasing average global temperatures and climate change, a new study finds.Using data from NASA satellites, researchers from Tongji University in Shanghai tracked changes in Antarctica's ice sheet over more than two decades. The overall trend is one of substantial ice loss on the continent, but from 2021…

The idea that trees communicate with each other during an eclipse and synchronize their behavior — as has been widely reported recently — is a compelling one. The fascinating idea sprang out of research detecting bioelectric signals in spruce trees (Picea abies) in Italy's Dolomite mountains during a 2-hour-long partial solar eclipse. But many researchers…

First fault rupture ever filmed: M7.9 surface rupture filmed near Thazi, Myanmar - YouTube Watch On A video showing the ground tearing apart in a major earthquake in Myanmar in March may be the first of its kind.The video captures a ground rupture, the ripping of Earth's crust all the way up to the surface,…

QUICK FACTSWhere is it? La Palma, Canary Islands [28.62120467, -17.89960469]What's in the photo? A highly destructive lava flow winding into the seaWhich satellite took the photo? European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 missionWhen was it taken? Oct. 1, 2021This striking satellite photo shows red-hot lava winding into the sea during a volcanic eruption on La Palma in…

Scientists have revealed how much of the vast deep ocean floor humankind has observed, and it's a staggeringly small amount.According to a new study published May 7 in the journal Science Advances, just 0.001% of the deep seafloor (anything below 656 feet, or 200 meters) has been explored — despite it covering about two-thirds of…

A provocative new hypothesis suggests that Yosemite Valley was carved by an ancient volcano and a disappearing river, both of which have long since eroded away.Geologists have long debated why Yosemite Valley is so deep, with walls that tower up to 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) above the valley floor. The prevailing explanation is that in…

Australia is rather isolated today, but around 120 million years ago, the island straddled the polar circle and formed a giant landmass with Antarctica. At that time, dinosaurs lived on this landmass — and thanks to a new study, we now know what their habitat looked like.New illustrations show that "polar dinosaurs" roamed cool-temperate forests…

From above, Antarctica might seem like a cold, flat and desolate landscape — and it certainly is. But beneath the ice sheet lies an entire hidden world: Scientists have discovered diverse biomes, hidden rivers and lakes, mountains and valleys, primordial bacteria, and even the remnants of ancient ecosystems.Almost 90% of Antarctica's land is covered in…