Science News
Building an Interstate Highway System for Energy
Tomorrow’s smart grid will keep the lights on and factories humming with clean (but fickle) renewable energy. 06.10.2009
A Scientist's Guide to Finding Alien Life: Where, When, and in What Universe
A variety of new findings point to the "habitable zones" where we're likely to find extraterrestrials. 05.11.2009
The World's Biggest Tornado Hunt
Next month, 100 meteorologists will try to finally understand the dynamics of tornadoes—like the one that killed three people in Mena, Arkansas, last night. 04.10.2009
Diamonds Are a Geologist's Best Friend
Tiny carbon spheres hidden under rock and ice may be telltales of cataclysmic comet strikes. 04.06.2009
The Strange Forests that Drink—and Eat—Fog
Several forests around the world use fog to get critical moisture and nutrients. 03.30.2009
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Time
The beginning, the end, and the funny habits of our favorite ticking force. 03.12.2009
What Is This? A Dirty Sheep?
Stay away: these poofy blobs are actually quite deadly. 03.09.2009
What is This? A Windshield's Worst Nightmare Come True?
It may look like a worthless rock, but it can be encrusted with diamonds or used to find black gold. 02.05.2009
The Year in Earth Science
Life from space, killer hail, bacterial weather, and more 12.24.2008
#5: Nations Stake Their Claims to a Melting Arctic
Undiscovered oil and gas reserves below the ice set off a polar gold rush. 12.22.2008
#67: Drilling, Not Earthquake, Caused Giant Hot Mud Volcano
Some claim an earthquake caused this mud river, but new research says otherwise. 12.10.2008
#73: Giant Ice Meteors Fall From Clear Skies
20-pound chunks of ice falling on a sunny day? It's no urban myth. 12.09.2008
#88: Bacteria Can Control the Weather
The tiny organisms may play a big role in causing precipitation. 12.07.2008
#93: Physicists Discover the Source of Earth’s "Mystery Hiss"
A strange electromagnetic wave follows the path of sound waves through water. 12.05.2008
The Remote-Controlled Helicopter That Predicts Volcanic Eruptions
Aerovolc 1 has a very sharp sense of smell—and not a shred of fear. 11.18.2008
Global Warming Math: The Hard Numbers
A clear-eyed look at the magnitude of global warming problem—and the cost in getting rid of it. 10.18.2008
The History of the World, Contained in a Block of Ice
Ice core samples reveal the atmosphere's secrets as far back as 400,000 years. 10.14.2008
How—and Where—Will We Live in 2015?
The future is now for sustainable cities in the U.K., China, and U.A.E. 10.08.2008
Water at Ocean Vents Isn't Water—It's a Gas-Liquid Hybrid
You've heard about the freaky animals at ocean vents. Now check out the freaky water. 10.05.2008
Rock-a-Pedia
A new open-source atlas could keep you from falling into a sinkhole and help settle the great Arctic land grab. 10.03.2008
The King of Green Architecture
William McDonough aims to create buildings that produce oxygen, sequester carbon, and produce more power than they use. 09.28.2008
The Man Who Aims to Feed Humanity's Future
Pedro Sanchez says we need nanofertilizers, transgenic crops, and governments and investors with cojones. 09.12.2008
What Invisible Things Are in the Surfaces You Touch and Air You Breathe?
A DISCOVER editor delves into the unseen forces that affect our lives. 08.29.2008
How to Hitchhike Across the Globe Without Leaving Your Living Room
The 360° World Atlas turns anyone with a computer into a global traveler. 08.17.2008
The Daredevils Who Chase One of the Sky's Greatest Mysteries
Some brave pilots fly tiny gliders into an amazing type of cloud that forms only in Australia. 08.14.2008
A Complete History of Carbon
A new book takes readers through the birth and unstoppable rise of this dangerous element. 08.04.2008
20 Things You Didn't Know About... The Summer Solstice
Galileo was forced to recant his astronomical theories on the summer solstice of 1633. 06.19.2008
The Biggest Weather-Control Flubs in History
How many ways can humans fail at manipulating nature? 06.06.2008
Harnessing the Weather
Could new technology help humans eliminate "acts of God"? 06.06.2008
3 Amazing Science Projects from Around the Globe
Iron Man suits, ice telescopes, and underwater CO2 traps 06.02.2008
The Latest Endangered Species: Vacation Spots
Check out these 7 amazing locales soon; they may not be around for long. 04.10.2008
Kaleidoscope Sky
03.07.2008
The Key to Safe and Effective Carbon Sequestration
Some rock acts as a natural stopper to buried carbon dioxide. 02.29.2008
If Life Gives You Methane, Make Methane Energy
The global warming risk that's also a great opportunity 01.31.2008
72. Crust Formed Early In Earth’s History
01.14.2008
60. Diamonds From Outer Space
01.09.2008
25. African Lightning Stirs U.S. Hurricanes
12.21.2007
Hell Froze Over Earlier Than We Thought
Ancient diamonds suggest a thick skin on the early Earth. 12.20.2007
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Gold
Anti-inflammatory, protector of astronaut eyes, and excrement of the gods 11.15.2007
Attack of the Giant (Extinct) Insects!
They just don't make two-foot dragonflies like they used to. Here's why. 11.02.2007
Birds Navigate Using Magnetic Compass-Vision
Combined with a GPS beak, it leads them on marathon migrations. 10.30.2007
NASA's 6 Best Earth-Based Research Projects
Ultrafast scramjets, mach-10 wind tunnels, cockpit displays that see through clouds... 10.17.2007
Quasars Say Earth Is 1/2 a Pinkie Smaller
We now know the planet is quite mushy—but at least we know. 10.12.2007
The Last Unexplored Place on Earth
Scientists race to discover the secret world buried miles beneath Antarctica. 09.28.2007
The Moon Passes Gas
Even a rock with no atmosphere needs to let it out sometimes. 09.24.2007
Watching the Birth—and Death—of an Island
In the South Pacific, the crew of a yacht saw new land form right beneath their boat. 08.08.2007
Earth Speaks in an Inaudible Voice
You can’t hear it, but our planet’s ultradeep hum could save your life. 08.02.2007
Journey to the Center of the Earth
A probe might reveal what's happening at the core. 06.08.2007
Everything on Earth Is in the Air
Cosmic dust, cockroach parts, chloroform—you name it 06.07.2007
Everything Emits Radiation—Even You
The millirems pour in from bananas, bomb tests, the air, bedmates... 06.04.2007
The Ceaseless Buzzing of Kinetic Energy
If heat were visible, we’d see a lot of frenzied motion. 05.30.2007
Grace in Space
Satellites accurately track Earth's squishiness. 03.23.2007
World Versus the Volcano
Huge eruptions leave the world cold and hungry. 03.19.2007
The Top 8 Earth Science Stories of 2006
Global warming as hot topic, water worlds under Antarctic ice, King Tut's alien heat source, and more 12.27.2006
Earth's Big Balancing Act
Once, Alaska was near the equator. 11.17.2006
Meet the New Continent
In only a million years we'll have an eighth: East Africa. 10.31.2006
Swimming in the Sahara
The world's largest desert was once a green Eden. One day it will be again. 10.25.2006
Earth's Inner Fort Knox
Searching for a pot of gold? Try the center of the Earth. 09.01.2006
The Year in Science: Geology
01.08.2006
Discover Dialogue: Planetary Geologist H. Jay Melosh
Just about every atom on Earth has been through a hypervelocity impact. 07.24.2005
A Geologist in the Field - Part 2
06.16.2005
A Geologist in the Field
06.01.2005
Geology
01.02.2005
The Geology of . . . Rubies
A ruby's dazzling color masks the mysterious origins of its birth 11.25.2004
Geology
01.02.2004
Geology
Year In Science 01.13.2002
Victim of Geology
Whatever you do, don't get started on fossils 07.01.2001
