Climate (Page 13)

Seismic waves have revealed that the oceanic plate beneath the Ontong Java Plateau was dramatically transformed by the colossal volcanic activity that created it more than 100 million years ago. Researchers found a complex structure of horizontal layers cut through by vast swarms of vertical magma channels, along with unusuallyContinue Reading

This spring, six reporters from The Associated Press’ climate desk traveled from cities across the United States to work with students from the MIT Graduate Program in Science Writing. Students developed and pitched local climate stories, then, over a four-day intensive weekend, worked with visual journalists from the AP toContinue Reading

A catastrophic asteroid breakup may have triggered a huge wave of impacts across the inner solar system about 800 million years ago. The debris was launched from near a gravitational gateway controlled by Jupiter, sending fragments toward Earth, the Moon, and Mars. The bombardment may explain ancient lunar craters andContinue Reading

An ancient sea worm may hold the secret to a whole new category of natural materials. Its jaws combine proteins and metal ions in a way that gives them metal-like strength and unusual mechanical behavior, yet they still differ from traditional metals. Researchers believe these “bio-metals” could open new directionsContinue Reading

More than a century ago, Czech writer Karel Čapek invented the word “robot” for his play R.U.R., Rossum’s Universal Robots, about a factory that churned out humanoid machines whose mission was to liberate real people from work. Instead, the robots fomented a rebellion and killed off the human race.  SomeContinue Reading