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Climate Change Chronicles

a photo of a building on the coast that has fallen into the ocean and cracked apart

Rising seas eroded the coastline of this resort region in Hoi An, Vietnam, causing its buildings to crack apart and start tumbling into the water. Climate change is threatening low-lying regions across the globe with similar destruction.

xuanhuongho/iStockphoto

Oceans
Climate change makes seas rise faster and faster
an aerial photo of a flooded street in Ho Chi Minh City, scooters and cars are driving through the floodwaters

Traffic keeps flowing on a flooded street in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Sea levels are rising around the world, but they are rising more quickly in some places than in others.

xuanhuongho/iStockPhoto

Weather & Climate
Explainer: Why sea levels aren't rising at the same rate globally
a scenic photo of Jamaica Bay in New York City

Looking out over Jamaica Bay in New York City. Climate change will bring more frequent storms and sea level rise. Both threaten buildings and wildlife habitat in the general area with floods.

stefko/iStockphoto

Science & Society
Building resilience to climate’s emerging impacts
a photo of huge stone statue figures at Rapa Nui, or Easter Island

These huge stone statues are at Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. This Chilean island lies 3,500 kilometers (almost 2,200 miles) west of the mainland, deep in the Pacific Ocean. The island is one of many places worldwide that are vulnerable to sea-level rise.

Babak Fakhamzadeh/Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

Archaeology
Rising seas threaten thousands of world cultural sites
a photo at water level showing beachhomes on stilts next to the incoming ocean water

The beach that used to be in front of these North Carolina homes has eroded away. Such land loss can eventually undermine and destroy the buildings.

summersetretrievers/iStockphoto

Oceans
How three coastal communities are dealing with rising seas
A microscopic image of a spiky round orange amoeba snacking on an algal cell.
Top Story
Amoebas are crafty, shape-shifting engineers
They can change form, build shells, punch holes in prey — even farm their own food
a photo of a group of Adélie penguins standing on a rocky surface
Animals
 
To monitor penguin diet from satellites, look to poop
Landsat imagery can tell scientists what foods Adélie penguins are eating
a pair of hands getting ready to shoot a rubber band
Physics
 
High-speed video reveals the best way to shoot a rubber band
Physics can help you avoid hitting your thumb when you fire
a photo of a glassy-winged sharpshooter sitting on vegetation
Animals
 
How some insects fling their pee
Sharpshooters hurl liquid waste at an acceleration up to 20 times Earth’s gravity
Comb jellies floating
Animals
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Jellies
These are gelatinous creatures that live in water

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Editor's Picks
winter soldiers

Army officers Ethan Diven and Evan Lewandowski soldier through frigid winter weather toward a pickup point after a successful training exercise at Deadhorse, Alaska in February 2017.

Staff Sgt Daniel Love, U.S. Army

Materials Science
U.S. Army is developing high-tech underwear
Mars colony
This artist’s illustration depicts what a possible mission to Mars might look like. To make it reality, though, scientists must first solve a lot of problems.
e71lena/iStockphoto
Space
Preparing for that trip to Mars
teen texting and driving
Brain
The distracted teenage brain
Trending
a photo of a building on the coast that has fallen into the ocean and cracked apart

Rising seas eroded the coastline of this resort region in Hoi An, Vietnam, causing its buildings to crack apart and start tumbling into the water. Climate change is threatening low-lying regions across the globe with similar destruction.

xuanhuongho/iStockphoto

Oceans
Climate change makes seas rise faster and faster
a photo of a three stages of blood moon eclipse from July 2018 showcasing a very red moon in the middle image

During a "total" lunar eclipse, the moon will remain partially visible in the sky but take on a dark red hue.

Bernd Thaller/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Weather & Climate
Distant volcano could turn latest lunar eclipse dark red
5 pretty faces
Psychology
What makes a pretty face?
three zombies
Behavior
Zombies are real!
a photo of a tornado in El Reno,Oklahoma
Weather & Climate
 
New research may alter what we know about how tornadoes form
As the climate changes, twister behavior on the ground is changing, as well
a photo showing a supercell storm creating a tornado at the horizon of the picture
Weather & Climate
 
Supercell: It’s the king of thunderstorms
They can fling out tornadoes and more
a photo of a three stages of blood moon eclipse from July 2018 showcasing a very red moon in the middle image
Weather & Climate
 
Distant volcano could turn latest lunar eclipse dark red
Pollution spewed by Anak Krakatau’s eruption in Indonesia may darken an already red moon
a photo of Ron Clarke, a pealeoanthropologist, excavating the skull of a skeleton embedded in a cave
Human evolution
 
A skeleton named ‘Little Foot’ causes big debate
Researchers disagree over whether the fossil hominid belongs to a new species
a photo of Somalians standing in line waiting for food
Weather & Climate
 
Climate change greatly intensified many 2017 weather events
From droughts to deluges, scientists link 16 extreme events to global warming
Blogs
Comb jellies floating

This lovely creature is a comb jelly. It’s a jelly but not a jellyfish.

S. Zielinski/SNS

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Jellies
artist's vision of an exomoon

Planets orbiting far away stars may have moons. Scientists are hunting these potential exomoons.

NASA/ESA/L. Hustak

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Exomoon
a photo fo several teen girls playing basketball on an indoor court

Playing a sport like basketball is a great way to get exercise, but many teens aren’t getting the recommended daily amount of healthful activity.

monkeybusinessimages/iStockphoto

Analyze This!
Analyze This: Most teen girls don’t meet guidelines for daily exercise
purple opium poppy

It’s pretty, but don’t be fooled. This is the opium poppy, the flower that produces the painkiller opium — the namesake for opioid drugs.

Louise Joly/Wikipedia Commons (CC BY-SA 1.0)

Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Opioid
Body & Brain
a photo of a woman in a white lab coat drawing blood from a young woman's arm

Keep your cool. If you expect someone sticking a needle into your arm will not hurt much, you may actually experience less pain, a new study shows.

AlexRaths/iStockphoto

Brain
Expecting pain? That could really make it hurt worse
a close up of goose bumps on someone's arm

The hormone and nervous reactions that make the pupils of your eyes dilate, your heart race and your skin break out in goose bumps may also make hair grow.

HELIVIDEO/istockphoto

Body functions
Goose bumps may have hairy benefits
an illustration of the brain as a blue wireframe

Using a marijuana-like drug during adolescence may damage decision-making structures in the brain, a new study finds.

Jolygon/iStockphoto

Brain
Marijuana use may affect decision-making areas in teen brains
an lillustration of a bird sitting on a branch during a snowfall, with the text "2018 Reader's Top Picks" in the middle of the image

What were you all reading this year? Read on!

Nancy Moulding/SNS

Science & Society
Here’s the science you loved in 2018
a photo of a woman in a white lab coat drawing blood from a young woman's arm
Brain
 
Expecting pain? That could really make it hurt worse
How much we think something will hurt can affect how much pain we feel
artist's vision of an exomoon
Planets
 
Scientists Say
Scientists Say: Exomoon
This is a moon that orbits a planet outside of our solar system
a photo of a female T. magnus spider with some of her spiderlings
Animals
 
This spider feeds a type of milk to its babies
Even after spiderlings start to hunt for food, they return to mom for milk
a photo of a building on the coast that has fallen into the ocean and cracked apart
Oceans
 
Climate change makes seas rise faster and faster
Only a small window of time remains to keep the worst impacts from happening
an aerial photo of a flooded street in Ho Chi Minh City, scooters and cars are driving through the floodwaters
Weather & Climate
 
Explainer: Why sea levels aren't rising at the same rate globally
A spinning planet, melting ice sheets and warmer waters all contribute to sea level rise
Space
a photo of a three stages of blood moon eclipse from July 2018 showcasing a very red moon in the middle image

During a "total" lunar eclipse, the moon will remain partially visible in the sky but take on a dark red hue.

Bernd Thaller/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Weather & Climate
Distant volcano could turn latest lunar eclipse dark red
meteor shower over mountains

Commonly called ‘shooting stars,’ these streaks of light in the night sky are meteors caused by bits of space rock crashing into Earth’s atmosphere. The ones shown here are part of the annual Geminid shower.

sripfoto/iStockphoto

Astronomy
Catch a ‘shooting star’ this month — and most others
An illustration of what it might have looked like just before the InSight lander touched down on Mars. Pictured: a saucer shaped lander with three legs close the the Martian surface

This is an artist’s view of what it might have looked like when the InSight was about to touch down on Mars. The craft successfully landed November 26 on the Red Planet.

JPL-CALTECH/NASA

Space
Quake-scouting lander safely touches down on Mars
an illustration of the Kepler space telescope in space

Here’s an artist’s depiction of the Kepler space telescope at work scouting planets orbiting distant stars. Over its lifetime, this spacecraft turned up more than 2,700.

NASA

Space
R.I.P. Kepler, the planet-hunting telescope
Invention & Innovation
a photo of a person writing "Bye" on rewritable paper

A special pen heats the blue ink on this rewritable paper. As the ink warms, it turns clear. The white paper beneath reveals a written message.

Luzhuo Chen

Chemistry
This rewritable paper depends on disappearing ink
robo-jellyfish

A soft and squishy robo-jellyfish pumps its way gently through the ocean, providing little or no disturbance to local sea life.

Jennifer Frame, Nick Lopez, Oscar Curet and Erik D. Engeberg/IOP Publishing

Robotics
This robotic jellyfish is a climate spy
A microscopic image showing Naegleria fowleri, also known as brain-eating amoebas

Parasites belonging to the species Naegleria fowleri, sometimes known as brain-eating amoebas, can destroy brain tissue — and kill human victims within a week.

Govinda S. Visvesvara/CDC

Health
Silver nanoparticles help fight brain-eating amoebas
an image of a smoke detector on the ceiling and smoke wafting below it

It took over two minutes for high-pitched smoke alarms to wake kids up. It took a motherly voice just two seconds.

nikkytok/iStockphoto

Science & Society
New smoke alarm tests a mother’s touch
a scenic photo of Jamaica Bay in New York City
Science & Society
 
Building resilience to climate’s emerging impacts
An evolving area of science explores how systems might bounce back — and when they can’t
a photo of huge stone statue figures at Rapa Nui, or Easter Island
Archaeology
 
Rising seas threaten thousands of world cultural sites
How we can preserve our archeological heritage in the face of rising seas
a photo at water level showing beachhomes on stilts next to the incoming ocean water
Oceans
 
How three coastal communities are dealing with rising seas
There are many ways to react when the ocean encroaches
a photo of a spotted salamander in the wild
Ecosystems
 
Mosquito repellent could pose risks to baby salamanders
One repellent killed young salamanders in the lab — but not the mosquito larvae they eat
a close up of goose bumps on someone's arm
Body functions
 
Goose bumps may have hairy benefits
A new study finds the phenomenon may boost hair growth
Latest Headlines
a photo of a group of Adélie penguins standing on a rocky surface

Poop can make things messy for Adélie penguins. But it can also provide information about the birds. That includes where they are and what they’re eating.

Liam Quinn/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Animals
To monitor penguin diet from satellites, look to poop
a pair of hands getting ready to shoot a rubber band

To understand how rubber bands fly, scientists studied video of elastic launching off of thumbs and cylinders.

Devonyu/iStockphoto

Physics
High-speed video reveals the best way to shoot a rubber band
a photo of a glassy-winged sharpshooter sitting on vegetation

Sharpshooter insects (one shown) slurp hundreds of times their body weight in sap each day. That means they pee constantly, flinging it out of the way using a tiny barb on their rear ends.

siamesepuppy/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

Animals
How some insects fling their pee
Comb jellies floating

This lovely creature is a comb jelly. It’s a jelly but not a jellyfish.

S. Zielinski/SNS

Scientists Say
Animals
Scientists Say: Jellies
Math & Technology
a pair of hands getting ready to shoot a rubber band

To understand how rubber bands fly, scientists studied video of elastic launching off of thumbs and cylinders.

Devonyu/iStockphoto

Physics
High-speed video reveals the best way to shoot a rubber band
robo-jellyfish

A soft and squishy robo-jellyfish pumps its way gently through the ocean, providing little or no disturbance to local sea life.

Jennifer Frame, Nick Lopez, Oscar Curet and Erik D. Engeberg/IOP Publishing

Robotics
This robotic jellyfish is a climate spy
car driving

Wear and tear on tires, brake pads and road surfaces leaves harmful microplastics swirling in the air, a new study finds.

birdlkportfolio/istockphoto

Pollution
Car tires and brakes spew harmful microplastics
an image of a smoke detector on the ceiling and smoke wafting below it

It took over two minutes for high-pitched smoke alarms to wake kids up. It took a motherly voice just two seconds.

nikkytok/iStockphoto

Science & Society
New smoke alarm tests a mother’s touch