Lake Baikal holds nearly one-fourth of Earth's fresh surface water and is the most scientifically interesting lake on our planet.

The pulse took just 35 hours to cover the whole world.

We know more about the universe than what is beneath our feet. But Earth's mantle holds subtle clues about our planet's past.

Impressive but deadly physics underlie catastrophic eruptions.

Even with leap years and long-term planning, our calendar won't be good forever. Here's why, and how to fix it.

Driving Teslas and planting trees are nice, but methane reduction, industrial efficiency, carbon removal, and a moderate carbon tax are the most efficient ways to fight climate change.

What was this mammoth tusk doing on the ocean floor 150 miles from land?

Every December, the Geminid meteor shower reaches its peak. Its 2021 show will be spectacular, but only if you do it right.

Purely physical and chemical processes can deceive us into thinking that life is present, when it actually is not.

Most “irrecoverable carbon” is concentrated in these tiny bits of the Earth’s land mass. Can we keep it there?

Until now, researchers believed davemaoite could never be found on Earth's surface.

From hellishly hot planets to water worlds, some distant planets are like nothing in our Solar System.

The Miller-Urey experiment showed that the building blocks of life could form in the primordial soup. But it overlooked one key variable.

“Should they strike, each of them has an energy at impact equal to all of the nuclear weapons on Earth combined."

Surface deformation or other signs of an impending explosion may not occur. Instead, supervolcanic eruptions can be much more insidious.

The laws of physics aren’t changing. The Earth is. When it comes to any physical science, we know that the fundamental rules governing how the Universe works remain constant with time. […]

Science can teach us so much about our planet, but something more must compel us to take care of it. If you want to understand our planet, the best way to […]

Known as the ‘North Star,’ Polaris won’t stay that way forever. Planet Earth spins a full 360°, about its axis, every 24 hours. The Earth in orbit around the Sun, with […]

Sure, we’re warming now. But will this continue, or will natural factors change things? According to our best understanding of Earth’s climate, the global average temperature has increased significantly over the […]

The pendulum didn’t tick right when they brought it here: the start of a fascinating story. For nearly three full centuries, the most accurate way that humanity kept track of […]

It contains more water than all the Great Lakes combined, and the science of our planet explains why. Although practically all of Earth’s human population lives on dry land, our surface […]

There are three factors all competing to determine the fate of the Earth, and the one that’s winning now won’t win in the end. If you could measure the average distance […]

And if you have a friend at the same longitude, you can even measure its circumference. This year’s equinox, on March 19/20 of 2020 (longitude-dependent), is Earth’s earliest in 124 […]

It’s an incredibly useful approximation. But the truth takes us far deeper. Anyone who’s ever taken a physics course has learned the same myth for centuries now: that any object thrown, […]

No one has seen an equinox this early since the 19th century. And you’d better get used to it. This year, on March 19, 2020, the equinox will occur. For a […]

It isn’t just a day that comes every four years; it’s everything we need to keep our calendar aligned with Earth’s orbit. Once every four years, at least under most circumstances, […]

And it’s not because of leap seconds; it’s a fundamental property of most days. Human beings, in marking the passage of time, account for each day equally: with 24 hours. One […]

It’s not a question of could they, but have they? Here’s how we’ll find out. It’s no secret that fragments of asteroids, comets, and other spaceborne objects have been found here […]

The remote volcano Raikoke just erupted after nearly 100 years of silence. Here’s why it matters. On June 22, 2019, a volcano that had been dormant and inactive for nearly a […]

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year, but doesn’t have the earliest sunrise or the latest sunset. Here’s why. The length of a day on planet Earth might […]