Earth & Climate
Ocean Currents
A single ocean current is a major reason Western Europe stays notably milder than other places at the same latitude — and scientists are watching closely for signs it could weaken.
Plate Tectonics
A theory that explains why South America and Africa's coastlines look like they'd fit together — because, hundreds of millions of years ago, they did.
Renewable Energy
A category of energy that, in a growing number of places, has quietly gone from an expensive idealistic alternative to the actual cheapest option on the table.
Earthquakes
The vast majority of earthquakes happening right now are too small for any human to feel, detected only by sensitive instruments quietly recording the Earth's constant, low-level shifting.
Climate Change
A naturally occurring process that keeps the planet livable becomes a serious problem the moment you add too much of it — which is essentially what's been happening since the industrial era.
Volcanoes
Roughly three-quarters of the world's active volcanoes sit along a single horseshoe-shaped zone circling the Pacific Ocean, appropriately nicknamed the Ring of Fire.