Environment

Fortress of Solitude-like Cave Houses Ridiculously Slow-Growing Crystals

Researcher uses a custom-built, ultrasensitive microscope to 
determine that a sample grew 0.000000000014 millimeter per second—the equivalent of a pencil width every 16,000 years. 01.18.2012

How I Put a Murderer Away With Doppler Radar

Sometimes a smoking gun can be a weather pattern. 01.13.2012

The Citizen Scientist

In a former life, she was a cheerleader for the Philadelphia 76ers. Today she channels her enthusiasm into spreading the word that science is something anyone can do. 01.06.2012

#73: Quake Science on Trial in Italy 


Can scientists be held accountable for deaths in a quake they didn't predict? 01.03.2012

#41: The Ozone Satellite, 1991–2011


It proved the damage caused by CFCs, helped predict climate changes, and saw the beginning of the recovery of the ozone layer. 12.27.2011

#45: Have Humans Left 
a Permanent Scar on the 
Geologic Record

The Anthropocene is a man-made era, an increasingly vocal group of scientists holds. 12.22.2011

#39: Ocean Microbes Clean Up Gulf Mess


Natural bacteria help eliminate methane from the Deepwater Horizon blowout, but more bad stuff remains behind. 12.20.2011

#36: Forests Stage A Comeback


Some forests have rebounded... but the news isn't all good. 12.20.2011

#29: Yellowstone’s Oil Spill

ExxonMobil pipeline bursts beneath the Yellowstone River in Montana, spilling 40,000 gallons of oil into the pristine area. 12.20.2011

#21: New Fracking Worries: 
Methane Leaks, Radioactive Water

Yes, hydraulic fracturing can actually contaminate water, study confirms. 12.20.2011

#100: Arctic Ice Hits 
Record Lows


Study records lowest measurement of ice yet; environmentalists (and polar bears) not pleased. 12.20.2011

#89: Weather Moves Continents


Accelerated monsoons in Himalayas have weathered rock, increasing speed of India's tectonic plate. 12.20.2011

#84: Wild Weather, 1; Sports, 0

Extreme weather events have helped diminish many sporting events. 12.20.2011

#46: Solar Power in Peril


Solar in trouble after a recent mini-boom. 12.20.2011

#15: Lessons From the Great Japanese Quake

12.20.2011

#9: The Year’s Worst Natural Disasters

In 2011, at least 10 major weather disasters struck the United States alone, inflicting more than $45 billion in damages. Here, a survey of the epic floods, droughts, and other natural calamities that terrorized the planet. 12.20.2011