PUBLICATIONS BY DATE | aylinwoodward

*The following is an older selection of stories from prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. For a full list of my 2021 and 2020 Business Insider/Insider stories, please see the following link.

December 26, 2019

The most mind-boggling scientific discoveries of 2019 include the first image of a black hole, a giant squid sighting, and an exoplanet with water vapor

December 24, 2019

The most awe-inspiring scientific discoveries of the 2010s include the first image of a black hole, an exoplanet with water, and a hidden continent

December 22, 2019

Earth's magnetic north pole is skittering wildly across the Arctic. By 2040, our compasses 'will point eastward of true North,' an expert says

December 20, 2019

What each Democrat running for president thinks the US should do about climate change

December 18, 2019

New York City just got hit by a 'snow squall.' Here's what that really means — and looks like

December 18, 2019

A group of our Homo erectus ancestors suffered a mysterious mass death more than 107,000 years ago. It's their last appearance in the fossil record

December 17, 2019

Scientists found a 5,700-year-old piece of used gum in a lagoon — and sequenced the entire genome of the woman who chewed it

December 16, 2019

At least 16 people are dead after a New Zealand volcano erupted. Experts say the disaster was not predictable, despite warning signs

December 14, 2019

Greta Thunberg may be the world's savviest Twitter troll. Here are the presidents and pundits she has put in their place

December 13, 2019

Thousands of 10-inch worms known as 'penis fish' inundated a California beach. A biologist says they feel like a 'slimy water balloon'

December 12, 2019

A 44,000-year-old mural is now the oldest example of humans telling stories with pictures. Take a look at the epic hunt it shows.

December 11, 2019

Greta Thunberg, who was just named Time's 2019 person of the year, says she's 'tired of selfies' and meetings with politicians

December 11, 2019

How 16-year-old Greta Thunberg — Time's 2019 person of the year — became the face of climate activism in just one year

December 10, 2019

Trump's team released a video of him as Thanos, the villain who commits genocide in the 'Avengers' movies, and people are puzzled

December 10, 2019

Greta Thunberg's Twitter bio is trolling Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, who called her a 'brat'

December 10, 2019

Greenland's ice is melting 7 times faster than it did in the early 90s — suggesting scientists' worst-case predictions may come true

December 9, 2019

Humans aren't the only species that rely on grandmothers to watch the kids: Orca grannies ensure baby whales live longer

December 8, 2019

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carried up 'mighty mice' and a new robot companion to the International Space Station

December 6, 2019

Seed vaults are an 'insurance policy for the world's food.' 100 scientists just spent 6 years hunting for plant species around the globe to add to those vaults in case disaster strikes

December 3, 2019

Hotter weather is causing babies to come early. Nearly 70,000 US moms could go into early labor each year by 2100, a study predicts

December 2, 2019

Flight delays plague travelers as the season's first nor'easter hits the East Coast. At least 9 people have died due to the winter weather

November 30, 2019

Life expectancy in the US keeps going down, and a new study says America's worsening inequality could be to blame

November 27, 2019

The human species will likely destroy itself long before the sun kills everyone on Earth, a Harvard scientists says

November 25, 2019

The only #2009vs2019 photos we should care about — people are using the '10-year challenge' as a stark warning about what's happening to our planet

November 25, 2019

Archaeologists discovered a catacomb filled with mummified lion cubs, crocodiles, and cobras in an ancient Egyptian city of the dead

November 22, 2019

The MTA flooded a subway stop on purpose because 'climate change is real.' Here's how it's prepping New York for the next Superstorm Sandy

November 20, 2019

A pair of infant skeletons were found wearing other children's skulls as helmets in a 2,000-year-old grave site

November 16, 2019

The Tasmanian tiger is thought to have gone extinct in 1936, but mysterious sightings suggest the creature might still be out there

November 13, 2019

Nike's controversial Vaporfly shoes are helping runners set new records, but some think it's 'technology doping.' Here's how they work

November 12, 2019

Google's DeepMind is better than 99.8% of human players of 'Starcraft II,' putting it on the long road towards solving real-world problems

November 11, 2019

Hurricanes on the scale of Katrina and Harvey are now 3 times more likely than a century ago: 'We cannot hope to combat storms'

November 9, 2019

The movie 'Interstellar' came out exactly 5 years ago. Since then, new discoveries have changed our understanding of black holes

November 7, 2019

Photos from space reveal what climate change looks like, from melting Arctic ice to rampant California fires

November 7, 2019

A virus from the measles family is spreading because of melting ice. It kills seals and otters by the thousands

November 5, 2019

The Trump administration has started to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement. Here's what that means and what comes next

November 5, 2019

More than 11,000 scientists have declared a 'climate emergency.' One of the best things we can do, they say, is have fewer children

November 4, 2019

The winner of the New York City Marathon and the fastest marathoner in the world have one thing in common: Both wear the same controversial shoes

November 3, 2019

Coin flips aren't actually random. An app called Universe Splitter is, though — here's how it works

November 2, 2019

Daylight-saving time is about to end. It's one of the world's stupidest rituals (with Dave Mosher)

November 1, 2019

Greta Thunberg told Ellen DeGeneres that meeting with President Trump would be 'a waste of time, really'

November 1, 2019

Greta Thunberg is stuck on the wrong continent after the year's most important UN climate-change summit got moved from Chile to Spain

October 31, 2019

Sorry, Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey: There's so much CO2 in the atmosphere that planting trees isn’t enough to save us

October 30, 2019

Thousands of animals around the world are at risk of extinction. But not jellyfish — they're thriving in warm, polluted water

October 29, 2019

Far more people are threatened by rising seas than scientists realized, a study shows: 'The magnitude of the numbers speaks for itself'

October 28, 2019

Every person alive today descended from a woman who lived in modern-day Botswana about 200,000 years ago, a new study finds

October 26, 2019

An engineer has devised a way to stop Arctic ice from melting by scattering millions of tiny glass beads to reflect sunlight away

October 25, 2019

PG&E has announced power outages for 2 million Californians, after acknowledging that a broken wire may have sparked the Sonoma blaze

October 22, 2019

The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs acidified the ocean in a 'flash,' killing most marine life. The seas could see a similar problem a century from now

October 22, 2019

A remote Himalayan lake holds up to 800 skeletons from people who died 1,000 years apart. The mystery remains unsolved

October 17, 2019

Deep in California's Monterey Bay, scientists captured an underwater 'bonanza' as octopuses, fish, and worms feasted on a dead whale

October 17, 2019

What Earth might look like in 80 years if we're lucky — and if we're not (with Dave Mosher)

October 15, 2019

The best wildlife photos taken this year reveal a horde of interlocked ants and a vicious stand-off between a fox and a marmot

October 15, 2019

Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge finished a marathon in under 2 hours, sprinting at a 4:34-mile pace. Here's why his record doesn't count

October 11, 2019

Greta Thunberg's fans are upset she didn't win the Nobel Prize, but a peace expert says she should have never been a contender

October 10, 2019

Thousands of tarantulas are emerging from the ground in the San Francisco Bay Area, looking for mates

October 9, 2019

A winner of this year's Nobel prize in physics is convinced we'll detect alien life in 100 years. Here are 13 reasons why we haven't made contact yet

October 8, 2019

A new study reveals how the last woolly mammoths died out 4,000 years ago. That's after the Egyptians had built the pyramids

October 7, 2019

Nevada health officials are fighting to stop the spread of 'Zombie deer disease.' But you could already be eating infected meat without knowing it, one researcher warns

October 6, 2019

The Titanic is slowly but surely disappearing — here's what the wreck looks like now

October 4, 2019

The iconic velociraptor scene in 'Jurassic Park' would have been different — and unscientific — if Spielberg had gotten his way, the film's science advisor says

October 4, 2019

New research suggests we might be thinking about the ocean plastic problem all wrong — trash dumped from ships could be a major culprit

October 2, 2019

Before we put people on Mars, we should infect the planet with Earthly microbes, a group of scientists says

October 1, 2019

The best wildlife photos taken this year reveal a hippo murder, a hungry leopard seal, and a weevil ensnared by zombie fungus

September 28, 2019

Eating more seafood could help us slow the planet's warming — part of a handful of climate solutions the ocean offers

September 27, 2019

The T. Rex had the strongest bite of any land animal ever — and new research shows the dinosaur really could crush a car

September 26, 2019

Melting ice is slowing down the Atlantic ocean's circulation system. Yes, that's similar to what happens in 'The Day After Tomorrow'

September 25, 2019

Greta Thunberg and 15 other kids have filed a legal complaint against 5 countries, joining a growing group of young people bringing the climate fight to court (with Morgan McFall-Johnsen)

September 25, 2019

Sea levels are projected to rise 3 feet within 80 years, according to a new UN report. Hundreds of millions of people could be displaced

September 24, 2019

How 16-year-old Greta Thunberg became the face of climate-change activism (with Ivan DeLuce)

September 23, 2019

Greta Thunberg addressed world leaders through tears: 'How dare you! You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words'

September 23, 2019

Trump crashed the UN Climate Action Summit, where he applauded Narendra Modi and seemed to give Angela Merkel the cold shoulder (with Ivan DeLuce)

September 23, 2019

The US does not have 'the world's cleanest and safest air,' as Trump has claimed. These are the 8 states with the worst air pollution

September 20, 2019

A tropical storm is flooding Texas with up to 43 inches of rain, just 2 weeks after Hurricane Dorian. Here's why storms are getting stronger, slower, and wetter (with Morgan McFall-Johnsen)

September 19, 2019

North America has lost nearly 3 billion birds in the last 50 years — another sign that we're in the middle of a 6th mass extinction

September 18, 2019

No, the UFOs or 'unidentified aerial phenomena' in those grainy Navy videos probably aren't aliens (with Dave Mosher)

September 17, 2019

A lost 8th continent is hidden nearly 1,000 miles under Europe, new research shows. Scientists named it 'Greater Adria'

September 16, 2019

A 10-year-old Texas girl has been killed by a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in the Brazos river

September 14, 2019

For millions of years, eastern Australia was home to 2,200-pound marsupials with giant claws

September 14, 2019

Toxic fallout from the Notre Dame Cathedral fire may have exposed 6,000 children to unsafe levels of lead

September 11, 2019

More than 40,000 years ago, giant kangaroos roamed Australia. Their jaws were surprisingly similar to those of pandas, a new study found

September 10, 2019

For the first time, an hour-by-hour timeline reveals what happened after the asteroid crash that killed the dinosaurs

September 6, 2019

Presidential candidate Andrew Yang's climate plan includes geoengineering, a controversial technique that he says could lead to war

September 6, 2019

Hurricane Dorian updates: After making landfall in North Carolina, the storm is moving up the coast. At least 30 people have died in the Bahamas

September 4, 2019

Trump seems to have altered an old map of Hurricane Dorian's path to make it look like the storm was headed toward Alabama

September 4, 2019

Hundreds of skeletons were found in a mysterious Himalayan lake. A new analysis shows that some of them died 1,000 years apart

September 2, 2019

Hurricane Dorian is stationary over the Bahamas, giving it more time to wreak havoc. Slower storms could be our new normal (with Morgan McFall-Johnsen and Rosie Perper)

August 29, 2019

A Florida man died after losing 25% of his skin to flesh-eating bacteria. Experts say the infections will become more common as ocean water warms

August 29, 2019

The Amazon fires aren't a natural disaster. 'Bolsonaro has created the perfect conditions for this perfect storm,' one researcher said

August 29, 2019

Hurricane Dorian could hit Florida as a Category 4 storm. Here are the 14 most important ways to prepare for a hurricane (with Peter Kotecki and Morgan McFall-Johnsen)

August 28, 2019

Anthropologists have found the oldest skull of one of our earliest human ancestors. The 3.8 million-year-old fossil changes our understanding of human history

August 27, 2019

The world's first gene-edited reptile is a finger-sized albino lizard

August 26, 2019

Trump reportedly suggested fighting hurricanes with nukes. Here's what would really happen if we set off a bomb in the eye of a storm

August 24, 2019

The Amazon Rainforest is burning. Here's why there are so many fires and what it all means for the planet

August 23, 2019

Brazil has seen 100,000 fire alerts in 10 days, but it's not just the Amazon — one map shows how much of South America is burning

August 23, 2019

Brazil has seen 100,000 fire alerts in 10 days, but it's not just the Amazon — one map shows how much of South America is burning

August 23, 2019

The fires in the Amazon are the result of seasonal burning that farmers do every year. Here's why they've gotten so bad this summer (with Morgan McFall-Johnsen)

August 23, 2019

The blazes in the Amazon are so big they can be seen from space. One map shows the alarming scale of the fires

August 23, 2019

Striking photos show the devastation wreaked by record-breaking fires in the Amazon rainforest (with Joey Hadden)

August 22, 2019

The 'lungs of the planet' are burning at a record rate. If too much of the Amazon disappears, that 'dieback' could turn the land into a savanna

August 22, 2019

Amazon fires created a smoke eclipse in the skies above Brazil's largest city, 2,000 miles away

August 21, 2019

20 years after 'The Matrix' hit theaters, another sequel is in the works. Many scientists and philosophers still think we're living in a simulation

August 21, 2019

The Amazon is burning at a rate not seen since we started keeping track. The smoke is reaching cities 2,000 miles away

August 21, 2019

The northernmost reaches of the Earth are on fire. Here's what this record-breaking hot summer looks like from space

August 20, 2019

The iconic film 'Alien' came out 40 years ago. A scientist explains why Hollywood depictions of extraterrestrials have changed since then

August 14, 2019

40% of US honeybee colonies disappeared last year. This is what the world would look like without any bees at all (with Morgan McFall-Johnsen)

August 13, 2019

'The saddest dive of my life': A diver's before-and-after photos reveal the death of a coral reef

August 11, 2019

Researchers calculated what would happen if the entire US stopped eating meat. It'd be like taking 60 million cars off the road

August 11, 2019

16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg plans to sail from Europe to New York in September. Here’s what her zero-emissions journey will look like

August 9, 2019

Rising emissions could drain foods like rice and wheat of their nutrients, causing a slow-moving global food crisis

August 9, 2019

8 things science has shown to be strongly linked with more gun violence — and 2 things that are not (with Morgan McFall-Johnsen)

August 8, 2019

A carnivorous 3-foot-tall parrot that scientists nicknamed ‘Squawkzilla’ lived over 15 million years ago in New Zealand

August 8, 2019

Our food system accounts for a whopping 37% of greenhouse-gas emissions, a UN report found. But it could also offer a solution to the climate crisis (with Morgan McFall-Johnsen)

August 7, 2019

A group of tardigrades crashed into the moon in April. The indestructible critters could still be alive

August 6, 2019

5 people have been bitten by sharks at the same Florida beach over 9 days. Experts share tips for minimizing your risk of a shark attack

August 6, 2019

Gun control really works. Science has shown time and again that it can prevent mass shootings and save lives

August 4, 2019

The movie 'Jaws' was inspired by a real shark: In 1916, New Jersey residents engaged in 'active warfare' with a shark that killed four people

August 2, 2019

Scientists have created magnetic coils thinner than a human hair that could break down plastic in the ocean

August 1, 2019

Jeffrey Epstein reportedly wanted to 'seed the human race with his DNA' as part of his fascination with transhumanism. Here’s what that means

July 31, 2019

Scientists have figured out how to better predict where and when volcanoes will erupt — and their models accurately pinpointed disasters of the past

July 26, 2019

A ‘city-killer’ asteroid got scarily close to Earth yesterday, and astronomers didn't know about it until it was just days away

July 25, 2019

For the first time in history, a spacecraft is being powered purely by sunlight

July 24, 2019

Yes, the climate has changed before. But warming has never hit the entire planet at once the way it is now, new research shows

July 23, 2019

The first 'solar sailing' spacecraft is about to unfurl in orbit. It will be powered purely by light

July 22, 2019

Lightning struck a man and indirectly injured 7 other people over the weekend. Here's what happens to your body when it gets fried

July 19, 2019

Antarctica is melting so fast that scientists are proposing shooting artificial snow out of cannons to slow it down

July 18, 2019

Deep below Alaskan ice, tiny life forms went untouched for 50,000 years. Scientists are probing them to improve the hunt for aliens

July 16, 2019

8 of the surviving Apollo astronauts got together for the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, and Buzz Aldrin's outfit stole the show

July 15, 2019

A human-size jellyfish with frilly tentacles has been caught on camera — the largest researchers had ever encountered

July 12, 2019

Tropical Storm Barry is expected to hit Louisiana as the year's first hurricane tomorrow. New Orleans' river levees will be put to the test (with Lauren Frias)

July 12, 2019

Tropical Storm Barry is expected to make landfall tomorrow morning as a hurricane. Here's where the storm's path is heading

July 12, 2019

An astronaut captured an image of Tropical Storm Barry from space as it bears down on Louisiana

July 10, 2019

A 210,000-year-old skull found in Greece is the oldest modern human discovered outside of Africa. It changes our timeline of human migration

July 10, 2019

A California company is burying people's ashes under trees instead of gravestones — and thousands have already signed up

July 9, 2019

One of Antarctica's biggest glaciers will soon reach a point of irreversible melting. That would cause sea levels to rise at least 1.6 feet

July 9, 2019

California has had 3,000 earthquakes in the last week, but none was the big one that experts say is 'overdue'

July 5, 2019

Southern California just experienced its biggest earthquake in 20 years. The shaking may not be over yet, experts warn

July 3, 2019

Last month was the hottest June ever recorded in Earth's history, with temperatures nearly 20 degrees Fahrenheit above average

July 2, 2019

The bizarre interstellar object 'Oumuamua that flew through our solar system was almost definitely not aliens, a new study says (with Dave Mosher)

July 2, 2019

A total solar eclipse will be visible on July 2 for the first time since 2017 — here's how you can watch it anywhere in the world

July 2, 2019

Vintage EPA photos reveal what US waterways looked like before pollution was regulated

June 30, 2019

A parasitic infection called 'crypto' that causes diarrhea is on the rise in US swimming pools

June 30, 2019

Papayas contaminated with salmonella bacteria have sickened 62 people in 8 states

June 30, 2019

Temperatures in California are so hot, mussels are being cooked inside their shells

June 28, 2019

Astronauts in space photographed a giant volcano erupting in the Pacific Ocean

June 28, 2019

'Today is the hottest day in the history of France': Europe's hellish heat wave is caused by a high-pressure weather system unlike any ever seen before

June 27, 2019

NASA's next $1 billion space mission will be an alien-hunting nuclear helicopter that flies around Saturn's icy moon Titan (with Dave Mosher)

June 27, 2019

In the Everest ultra-marathon, runners compete at lung-bursting altitudes of 17,000 feet. This year, one runner spent a night outside, alone and without shelter

June 26, 2019

In a 'lost city' in the Honduran rainforest, researchers have discovered 3 animals thought to be extinct

June 26, 2019

A fungus causes cicadas to lose their limbs and 'try to mate with everything they encounter,' researchers found — here are 10 real examples of zombie animals in nature

June 25, 2019

No, we're probably not growing horns because of our cellphone use. One of the authors of that study sells posture pillows

June 25, 2019

SpaceX's Falcon Heavy has successfully launched the first 'solar sailing' spacecraft into orbit. It will be powered purely by light

June 24, 2019

An elusive giant squid that inspired the 'kraken' sea monster legend has been spotted in US waters for the first time

June 19, 2019

Beloved submarine Boaty McBoatface has made a critical discovery about rising seas on its maiden voyage in the Antarctic

June 19, 2019

The iconic tree thought to have inspired 'The Lorax' has suddenly died — and the whole species is at risk of extinction

June 18, 2019

3 people were attacked by sharks in North Carolina this month. Here's what might be going on and why they all survived, according to experts

June 18, 2019

18 signs we're in the middle of a 6th mass extinction

June 13, 2019

A rogue country could take planet-hacking into its own hands to alter the climate — and some experts worry it could lead to war

June 12, 2019

People in western China smoked marijuana to bury their dead 2,500 years ago — the oldest evidence of weed smoking in human history

June 11, 2019

A pirate-fighting sailor wants to lasso and tow a 125-million-ton iceberg from Antarctica to solve South Africa's water crisis

June 11, 2019

The 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico may grow to the size of Massachusetts this summer. That could make seafood more expensive

June 10, 2019

What it's really like to climb Everest, according to 10 people who've done it

June 7, 2019

Frogs are dying off at record rates — an ominous sign the 6th mass extinction is hitting one group of creatures hardest

June 6, 2019

More plastic pollution is swirling in the deep ocean than in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It’s even showing up in the intestines of sea creatures

June 5, 2019

21 young people are suing the US government, claiming a constitutional right to a stable climate. Here's what happened in court

June 5, 2019

Air pollution kills more people each year than smoking — but it's not the only dangerous pollutant you encounter on a daily basis

June 5, 2019

These 15 ocean species have already gone extinct. A dozen others will probably disappear in our lifetime

June 4, 2019

Stunning photos reveal the fragility and resilience of the planet and its animals (with Jeremy Burke)

June 4, 2019

China could restrict its export of rare-earth metals as a trade-war tactic. Here's what they are and why they're so crucial

June 3, 2019

A 'Jeopardy!' contestant's 32-day, $2.4 million winning streak has come to an end. Here are the tricks he used to stay on top

June 3, 2019

The highest court in athletics told her she was no longer allowed to compete because her body produced too much testosterone. Caster Semenya responded: 'No man, or any other human, can stop me from running'

June 3, 2019

Olympic runner Caster Semenya will be allowed to compete, after rules that banned her from races due to high testosterone were suspended

June 1, 2019

There may be a clear reason a jogger in Colorado got attacked by a mountain lion — and it means another attack could easily happen

May 30, 2019

Crowds, costs, and corpses: 16 misconceptions about what it's like to climb Everest

May 30, 2019

A climber saw her partner break his leg on Mount Everest. Here are the strategies she used to reach the summit alone

May 30, 2019

Disturbing before-and-after photos show how US cities — and their famous landmarks — could be underwater in 80 years (with Aria Bendix)

May 29, 2019

At least 11 people died on Mount Everest last week. But it's just the 10th deadliest mountain in the Himalayas

May 28, 2019

What happens to your body in Mount Everest's 'Death Zone,' where 11 people have died in the past week

May 26, 2019

T. rexes and other dinosaur skeletons look almost alive in a new set of remarkable photos

May 23, 2019

Scientists found a billion-year-old fungus, and it could change our understanding of how life migrated to land

May 22, 2019

Your seasonal allergies are getting worse because of high levels of carbon dioxide — here's why

May 21, 2019

Ice sheets are melting far faster than we thought — in a worst-case climate breakdown, coastal cities like New York and Shanghai would be swamped

May 18, 2019

California is having an unprecedented earthquake drought. The next big one could come at any moment

May 17, 2019

Only 80,000 koalas remain in the world, rendering them 'functionally extinct' — another victim of the 6th mass extinction

May 16, 2019

Scientists found 414 million pieces of trash on these tiny islands in the Indian Ocean — more proof that the plastic problem is out of control

May 4, 2019

The best underwater photos of the year reveal shipwrecks, sharks, and terrifying deep-sea creatures

May 14, 2019

This 'bizarre-looking, buck-toothed' dinosaur that could fit in your palm flew around the Jurassic skies like a bat

May 13, 2019

Bill Nye is angrily telling everyone to get their act together and fight climate change: 'The planet's on f---ing fire'

May 11, 2019

A warrior-prince's elaborate tomb found near London could be the British equivalent to King Tut, one expert says. Here's what was inside

May 10, 2019

A science adviser for 'Avengers: Endgame' describes the real physics of time travel and multiple universes that underpin the movie

May 10, 2019

Archaeologists found a 1,000-year-old shaman's pouch in the Andes. It contained multiple hallucinogenic drugs, including cocaine

May 10, 2019

An 'Avengers: Endgame' science adviser explains what he thinks happened to Captain America at the movie's end

May 7, 2019

The world's living creatures are disappearing at unprecedented rates — here's what we stand to lose, according to a landmark UN report

May 6, 2019

Up to 1 million species are facing extinction, according to a new UN report. Without them, we could run out of food

May 4, 2019

May 3, 2019

Up to 1 million animal species may be at risk of disappearing — yet another sign we're in the middle of a 6th mass extinction

May 2, 2019

Cocaine has been found in some European shrimp, and it's part of a disturbing trend of drug-filled shellfish

May 2, 2019

India is preparing for a near record-breaking cyclone by evacuating nearly 1 million people in the storm's path

May 2, 2019

A 160,000-year-old jaw from a human ancestor was found in a Tibetan cave. It might explain why Tibetans are able to live at high altitudes today

May 1, 2019

Scientists have discovered the oldest human footprint ever seen in the Americas

April 25, 2019

A parasitic illness from 'kissing bugs' that bite your face at night is spreading — here's how to tell those insects apart from other bugs

April 23, 2019

Greenland is approaching the threshold of an irreversible melt, and the consequences for coastal cities could be dire

April 23, 2019

Hawaii's iconic Waikiki Beach could be engulfed by the ocean in 20 years — here's the plan to save it

April 22, 2019

23 images that show how much we've reshaped planet Earth over the last century (with Erin Brodwin)

April 22, 2019

Earth's magnetic north pole is moving too fast for experts to keep up. Now scientists might know why

April 22, 2019

Survival expert Bear Grylls reveals the most important personality trait you need to stay alive in the wild

April 20, 2019

We’re altering the climate so severely that we’ll soon face apocalyptic consequences. Here are 11 last-ditch ways we could hack the planet to reverse that trend

April 18, 2019

Chilling photos of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fires set the city ablaze

April 18, 2019

Killer whales feast on the livers of great white sharks — just one orca sighting can keep the sharks away for a year

April 17, 2019

Scientists have a new way to estimate how often ocean animals get tangled in plastic — and it could explain why so many whales are washing up dead

April 15, 2019

Israeli scientists’ attempt at the first private moon landing failed because of a glitch that caused a high-speed crash into the lunar surface (with Dave Mosher)

April 11, 2019

Oil-eating microbes found in the deepest part of the ocean could help clean up man-made oil spill

April 10, 2019

Scientists may have discovered a new human species. It lived on a tiny island in the Philippines at the same time as Homo sapiens

April 8, 2019

Insects are dying off at record rates — an ominous sign we're in the middle of a 6th mass extinction

April 8, 2019

So many animals are going extinct that it could take Earth 10 million years to recover

April 8, 2019

Nibbled-on bones found in a cave revealed that our Neanderthal ancestors ate each other. Scientists may have figured out why

April 6, 2019

Paleontologists have discovered an ancient whale that had four legs and could walk on land

April 3, 2019

In some countries, people face jail time for using plastic bags. Here are all the places that have banned plastic bags and straws so far

April 2, 2019

A pregnant sperm whale was found dead with nearly 50 pounds of plastic in its belly — the second such death in the last month

April 1, 2019

The massive ocean cleanup device invented by a 24-year-old broke down in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Here’s what went wrong (with Aria Bendix)

April 1, 2019

This ancient sea creature had 18 tentacles that funneled food into its gaping mouth — and it may be the ancestor of an even creepier ocean animal

March 31, 2019

The world's 'doomsday seed vault' is built to store every crop on the planet, but the icy area that protects it is at risk

March 28, 2019

Mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus and dengue fever may have access to 1 billion more people in the years ahead

March 26, 2019

Paleontologists have discovered the world's biggest and longest-lived T. rex. It weighed almost 20,000 pounds

March 26, 2019

12 of the most devastating man-made ocean disasters in history, from Exxon Valdez to Deepwater Horizon

March 25, 2019

The film 'The Day After Tomorrow' foretold a real and troubling trend: The ocean’s water-circulation system is weakening

March 23, 2019

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wonders whether people should have kids in a climate-ravaged world. So does this movement of 'BirthStrikers'

March 19, 2019

12 facts that show why bottled water is one of the biggest scams of the century (with Erin Brodwin)

March 15, 2019

A devastating Arctic temperature rise that could submerge coastal cities and trigger species extinction is now locked in

March 14, 2019

A bomb cyclone has impacted 25 US states, causing flooding, white-out conditions, and power outages— here's what that is

March 13, 2019

Baby T. rexes were covered in peach fuzz and the size of small turkeys — here's what they looked like

March 13, 2019

The real T. rex looked nothing like the monster in 'Jurassic Park.' These 13 discoveries have upended our picture of the 'king of the dinosaurs'

March 9, 2019

Scientists have found one of the world's oldest surviving tattooing kits — with needles made of human bone

March 9, 2019

An unvaccinated 6-year-old boy spent 57 days in the hospital recovering from tetanus, and his parents still refuse follow-up shots

March 7, 2019

Humans once hunted and butchered giant ground sloths in South America, 12,600-year-old bones reveal

March 7, 2019

Ancient graves hid the skeletons of more than 260 children who had their hearts removed. It is the largest known child sacrifice, and archaeologists still don’t know why

March 7, 2019

How to keep your pets safe from hypothermia and frostbite, according to an Iditarod sled-dog veterinarian

March 5, 2019

The world's largest bee was found in the wild 38 years after its last sighting. It was one of the planet's top 25 'most wanted' species

March 4, 2019

A tornado outbreak that killed 23 people confirms scientists' fears: Tornadoes in the Southeastern US are getting worse

March 2, 2019

Divers found fossils of an ancient giant sloth hidden in a sinkhole. The creature was 20 feet long.

March 1, 2019

It turns out that Colorado jogger strangled a 24-pound baby mountain lion that may have been orphaned and starving

February 28, 2019

Rising emissions could one day trigger a tipping point that causes certain clouds to disappear, creating a 'hothouse' Earth scenario

February 28, 2019

California’s wine country is facing its worst flood since 1995. Photos show some areas under 8 feet of water

February 27, 2019

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls the Green New Deal the 'moonshot' of our generation. Here's what to know about the plan and the opposition it faces

February 25, 2019

Antarctica is about to lose an iceberg 30 times the size of Manhattan as two cracks converge — and it could cripple a British research station

February 21, 2019

Meet the first species to go extinct because of climate change — it was tiny, cute, and fluffy

February 20, 2019

Scientists just mapped the great white shark's genome, revealing clues that may help us heal wounds and fight cancer

February 20, 2019

Flooding on sunny days is already cutting into income in coastal towns. One small town alone lost $172,000 in a year

February 16, 2019

There's a cavity underneath Antarctica that's two thirds the size of Manhattan — a sign ice sheets are melting faster than we thought

February 13, 2019

A troubling new map shows what your city's climate will look like in 60 years. San Francisco will feel like LA, and New York will be more like Arkansas

February 12, 2019

When Warren Washington created the first climate model, he had no idea how necessary it was. He just won the 'Nobel Prize for the environment'

February 9, 2019

European colonizers killed so many indigenous Americans that the planet cooled down, a new study reveals

February 8, 2019

'We've never seen something like this orbiting the sun': Scientists are puzzled by the shape of the most distant object ever explored (with Dave Mosher)

February 7, 2019

In a hidden lake far below the Antarctic ice, scientists found the bodies of tiny creatures. Photos reveal how they accomplished the deep dive

February 6, 2019

Earth's north magnetic pole has moved — here's what that means for our navigation systems

February 5, 2019

Brazil's new president has started taking steps towards damaging the 'lungs of the planet'

February 4, 2019

Brands like Apple and Molson Coors think a future of extreme weather and climate disasters will be profitable (with Aria Bendix)

February 2, 2019

A tiny dinosaur relative named the 'Antarctic King' has been discovered at the South Pole

February 1, 2019

The polar vortex engulfing the US has left 21 people dead. Here's why events like this might be getting more common

January 31, 2019

The US is suffering through a polar vortex. Paradoxically, we may have global warming to thank for that

January 30, 2019

The Midwest is colder than Antarctica thanks to the polar vortex — here's what it looks like

January 30, 2019

How long you can stay outside in extreme cold before getting frostbite (with Jeremy Berke)

January 26, 2019

Scientists just drilled the deepest hole ever in western Antarctica, going 2 kilometers down through the ice to study how it's melting

January 24, 2019

The US government shutdown is preventing scientists from improving forecasts for severe weather and navigational models

January 23, 2019

Ancient graves hid the skeletons of 269 children and 466 llamas who were ritually sacrificed, and archaeologists still don’t know why

January 19, 2019

In a lost lake 3,500 feet under the Antarctic ice, scientists just found the carcasses of tiny creatures

January 17, 2019

Before-and-after images reveal the transformation of Indonesia's tsunami-causing volcano

January 16, 2019

The oceans are the hottest they’ve been since we started measuring — which means we should prepare for more disastrous flooding and storms

January 10, 2019

A city in China hosts an elaborate winter festival with giant ice castles, mass weddings, and a frigid swimming contest — take a look

January 9, 2019

A fatberg longer than the Leaning Tower of Pisa clogs another UK sewer

January 9, 2019

Trump’s $5 billion border wall plan could wreak environmental havoc, causing rivers to flood and animals to become 'zombie species'