Trying to curb coyote populations may be a lost cause, according to a new University of Georgia study.
Scientists uncover a mysterious Jurassic lizard with snake-like jaws
A strange Jurassic lizard discovered on Scotland’s Isle of Skye is shaking up what we know about snake evolution. Named Breugnathair elgolensis, the “false snake of Elgol” combined hook-like, python-style teeth and jaws with the short body and limbs of a lizard. Researchers spent nearly a decade studying the 167-million-year-old...
Scientists just found the shocking reason Chile’s quake shook so hard
A massive quake struck Calama, Chile, in 2024, surprising scientists with its unusual depth and destructive power. Unlike typical deep quakes, it broke past thermal limits and triggered an intense “thermal runaway” rupture. Researchers say the event challenges long-held theories and highlights the need for improved monitoring and preparedness. Their...
Japan’s hot springs hold clues to the origins of life on Earth
Billions of years ago, Earth’s atmosphere was hostile, with barely any oxygen and toxic conditions for life. Researchers from the Earth-Life Science Institute studied Japan’s iron-rich hot springs, which mimic the ancient oceans, to uncover how early microbes survived. They discovered communities of bacteria that thrived on iron and tiny...
Scientists just recreated a wildfire that made its own weather
In 2020, California’s Creek Fire became so intense that it generated its own thunderstorm, a phenomenon called a pyrocumulonimbus cloud. For years, scientists struggled to replicate these explosive fire-born storms in climate models, leaving major gaps in understanding their global effects. Now, a new study has finally simulated them successfully,...
Antarctic Sea Ice Emerges as Key Predictor of Accelerated Ocean Warming
A groundbreaking study published today in the European Geosciences Union (EGU) journal Earth System Dynamics provides a critical and previously underestimated connection between Antarctic sea ice, cloud cover, and global warming.
Researchers Wake Up Microbes Trapped in Permafrost for Thousands of Years
In a new study, a team of geologists and biologists led by CU Boulder resurrected ancient microbes that had been trapped in ice—in some cases for around 40,000 years.
Study Demonstrates How Frequent Wildfires and Heat Intensify Air Quality Issues in Megacities
Air quality in America’s largest cities has steadily improved thanks to tighter regulations on key sources of particulate pollution.
Rare Glimpse at Understudied Ecosystem Prompts Caution on Deep-Sea Mining
An enormous but poorly understood region of the global ocean–referred to as the abyssal benthic boundary layer–lies a few meters above the seafloor and has only been sampled a handful of times.
Strengthening Soy for Better Bioplastics
Soy proteins are used in plant-based natural polymers meant to eventually supplant plastic materials.