Arctic Melt Season Length Levels Off
For decades, Arctic sea ice has been melting earlier in spring and freezing later in fall, extending the…
Summer Goes Out With a Heat Dome
While the calendar indicated that astronomical summer was winding down, a swath of the south-central United States was…
Purple Haze Aurora – NASA Science
One of the inspirations for Jimi Hendrix’s iconic 1967 hit “Purple Haze” is said to be the sci-fi…
An Accidental Impact Crater Discovery
There are roughly 200 confirmed impact structures on Earth, but geologists estimate that hundreds more lurk undiscovered. Now,…
Dust Storm Sweeps Over Mali
As summer winds down in West Africa, so does much of the region’s dust activity. Dust storms can…
The Otherworldly Geology of Vasquez Rocks
Editor’s Note: Today’s story is the answer to the September Puzzler. Several of the outcrops at Vasquez Rocks…
A Bright Spot at Mount Michael
Winter near the Antarctic Circle brings months of frozen darkness, when sea ice chokes ocean waters and many…
Ice Island Survives Run-In With Joe Island
Summer is prime iceberg season in Greenland’s glacier-fed fjords, and 2026 was no exception. Especially notable was the…
A Changing World for Emperor Penguins
With their charming waddles, heat-conserving huddles, and tuxedo-like plumage, emperor penguins are among the world’s most recognizable animals.…
An Uncommon Drifter in the Denmark Strait
Greenland’s jagged coastline is lined with fjords, many of them cradling marine-terminating glaciers that routinely calve icebergs into…
Chasing Fire Clouds in Utah
Scientists have long known that volcanoes can launch large quantities of particles into the stratosphere. In the past…
Cascade Volcanoes Shrouded in Smoke
In a contrast of fire and ice, smoke from wildland fires mingled with several of the Cascade Range’s…