EarthScape

The arrival 36 years ago of a strange bird to a remote island in the Galápagos archipelago has provided direct genetic evidence of a novel way in which new species arise.On Nov. 23 in the journal Science, researchers from Princeton University and Uppsala University in Sweden report that the newcomer belonging to one species mated…

Foraging is a centuries-old practice, but many of the mushrooms in British Columbia are just now being identified through DNA sequencing and the enthusiasm of amateur collectors.

It’s no surprise that chemicals in smoke cause cancer, but a new study published in the Archives of Toxicology shows that some chemicals in cigarette smoke and industrial processes may be more dangerous than previously thought. Though most “low molecular weight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons” (LMW PAHs) have not been shown to cause cancer alone, the study shows that in…

There will soon be nothing that cannot be produced with 3D printing. However, the materials used for this process are still “dead matter” such as plastics or metals.

Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have identified a common set of genes that enable different drought-resistant plants to survive in semi-arid conditions, which could play a significant role in bioengineering and creating energy crops that are tolerant to water deficits.

Droughts can grip the vast Sahel region of Africa for decades, dramatically altering the border where forest and savannahs give way to the Sahara Desert. Predicting those droughts is vital, but hard.

On Nov. 29 Tropical Cyclone Dahlia became the first tropical cyclone of the 2017-2018 Southwest Indian Ocean season. The Global Precipitation Measurement Mission or GPM core satellite provided forecasters with a look inside the clouds and into the rate rain was falling. Heavy rainfall has created the potential for landslides and NASA analyzed areas that…

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Ockhi, it measured cloud top temperatures that showed strongest storms were off the coast of southwestern India. Infrared data showed Ockhi intensifing into a typhoon.

New research published by a team of scientists from the USDA Forest Service and Purdue University suggests that tiny soil fungi that help and are helped by trees may influence a forest’s vulnerability to invasion by non-native plants.

An estimated 13,000 historic sites could be lost or damaged in the southeastern United States with just 3 feet of sea level rise, according to a new study by a team of archaeologists published in the journal PLOS One. More than 32,000 sites would be at risk if sea levels rise 15 feet.