The Geysers is the largest geothermal power complex in the world

The world's first geothermal power plant was built in 1913 in Devil's Valley

In Tuscany, Italy, Prince Piero Ginori-Conti of Trevignano established the plant nine years after creating a generator that powered five light bulbs using steam vents in the area. Within three years, a second plant was built with two generators, each with 10 times the energy output of the first.

Yellowstone National Park is situated atop an active supervolcano

Yellowstone showcases geothermal phenomena, including the famous Old Faithful geyser and the vibrant Grand Prismatic Spring. The park's unique geological and ecological features make it an exceptional destination for visitors from around the globe.

Explore next-generation geothermal projects worldwide

This tool from the Clean Air Task Force allows users to see the location of geothermal power systems to depths of 12.5 kilometers (7.8 miles), where temperatures reach about 450 degrees Celsius (842 degrees Fahrenheit), including proposed, abandoned, and in-development projects.

California is one of the world’s 35 biodiversity hotspots

The state comprises the hotspot known as the California Floristic Province, where roughly 3,000 species of vascular plants grow—roughly three-fifths of which are found nowhere else in the world (also known as endemic).

Japan is home to the world's only geothermal steam dye workshop

The Hachimantai Geothermal Dyeing Workshop sees artisans and visitors use volcanic steam to fix dyes and add gradations to patterns, creating tie-dyed handkerchiefs and mini-scarves.

Napa Valley, explained

Some of the most valuable agricultural land in the US is in California's Napa Valley. Located about an hour's drive north of San Francisco, Napa has more than 400 wineries employing upward of 44,000 people and drawing in nearly 4 million annual visitors. The price per acre in the valley can exceed $500K because some of the best wines in the world are grown and produced in the roughly 30-mile-long area.

The Spanish consolidated power in California with 21 strategic missions

This map shows the order of establishment of the Franciscan-led missions whose saintly names still grace contemporary maps, from Santa Rosa in the north to San Diego in the south.

How the Golden Gate Bridge was constructed

San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge is one of America's most iconic structures and is considered to be an engineering marvel. Built in 1930's, before the advent of modern construction technology, the structure was considered impossible by contemporary standards.

The hand-dug 'Big Well' of Greensburg, Kansas

Why giant sequoias need fire to grow

Giant sequoias are the largest trees on Earth, living for upward of 3,000 years—and without fire, they couldn't reproduce. Regular fires help create space in the forest, while its heat opens up the sequoia cones, releasing the seeds onto the newly...

San Francisco has the highest-paying average monthly salary in the US at $7,092

Other relatively high monthly average salaries in major cities worldwide include those in Switzerland, specifically Geneva at $7,984 and Zurich at $7,788. This chart shows other major cities across the world with high average monthly salaries.

Take a tour of Google's headquarters

With its vibrant and cutting-edge design, the so-called "Googleplex" is synonymous with Silicon Valley and surrounds employees with lush green space and unique artwork. Amenities include massage therapy, a medical clinic, and nap pods to inspire creativity.

The world's largest restaurant is the size of 10 football fields

The Bawabet Dimashq Restaurant in Damascus, Syria, has held the Guinness World Record for largest restaurant since 2008. It can seat 6,014 guests and employs nearly 1,800 people, who serve up an eclectic menu of Middle Eastern Indian, Arab, Iranian, Syrian, and Chinese dishes.

20 of the world's most iconic big rock wall climbs

Big wall climbs are tall rock faces that require climbers to "pitch" multiple times during the ascent—that is, reuse a rope. They also often portaledge, or sleep, at least once during the climb. Topping the list is California's El Capitan.

Supermountains the size of the continental US may have sparked complex life on Earth

Geological records show that the Nuna and the Transgondwanan Supermountains existed around the same time as two major jumps in species complexity on the planet: the rise of large organisms and the Cambrian explosion, respectively. Researchers believe that the erosion of these mountains deposited major nutrients into the oceans and boosted oxygen levels, both of which supported more complex species.

Io, Jupiter’s moon, is the most volcanically active body in the solar system

The innermost and third-largest of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, Io’s volcanic activity is driven by tidal heating from Jupiter’s gravitational pull. Its atmosphere is very thin and primarily composed of sulfur dioxide, and its volcanic eruptions can exceed 1,000°C.

Carbon sinks absorb more greenhouse gases than they produce

The largest on Earth are oceans, which capture 25% of all carbon emissions and 90% of excess atmospheric thermal radiation while generating half of the world's oxygen. Wildfires and deforestation have reduced forests' net sink capacity, though fungi are believed to capture and store over a third of global carbon emissions.

Burning Man began as a small gathering on a San Francisco beach

Burning man started in 1986 as a gathering for 20 people. In 2023, more than 74,000 attendees became a part of Black Rock City and got caught in the rain.

See a wild bear observe fellow bears at the zoo

At the Sequoia Park Zoo in California, a wild bear visited the bear enclosure to see three bears in captivity. Zookeepers referred to him as a "polite visitor," adding, "He stayed on the boardwalk path, kept two feet on the ground, and didn't try to climb over the railings!"

The Richter scale was only intended to quantify Southern California earthquakes

The scale, designed to rate the energy of the largest seismic waves released by an earthquake, was calibrated to the region’s crust and mantle properties. Since the 1970s, seismologists have instead used the moment magnitude scale, which considers all waves of released energy.

Renaming the peak of the Great Smoky Mountains

After two years, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' petition to rename Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, finally succeeded. In 2023, the peak's title officially returned to its original Indigenous name, Kuwohi, which means "the mulberry place." Read to learn more about the mountain's significance as a sacred site for the Cherokee people, who have used the area for prayer, reflection, and gathering mulberries for medicinal purposes.

The 2026 Milan-Cortina Games are the most geographically spread out ever

As part of the planning committee's efforts to reduce costs and minimize infrastructure impact, existing ski resorts, rinks, and stadiums were used for the Winter Olympics in northern Italy. This inherently spreads events out, with venues scattered over a roughly 8,500-square-mile area of the country. See a map of the venues here.

A Swedish town erects a giant straw Christmas goat each year—often burned down by pranksters

Each year, the town of Gävle builds a giant straw Christmas goat, which pranksters often burn, despite heightened security measures. Notable attacks include arsonists dressed as Santa and gingerbread men firing flaming arrows and hackers disabling cameras before torching the goat.

How scientists are using molecules found in acidophiles to develop new medical treatments

The Berkeley Pit, an open-pit copper mine in Butte, Montana, that ceased operations in 1982 and is now filled with highly acidic water, is home to various species of fungi and yeast. These extremophiles produce unique compounds that may have anti-inflammatory benefits and have already been used to create an antibiotic for staph infections.

Water from four Great Lakes feeds Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls is powered by water from Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie. The Great Lakes basin spans over 260,000 square miles and holds nearly 20% of the world's surface freshwater—about two-thirds of which passes over the falls.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Neutron stars, the remains of some massive stars after they explode in a supernova, are the densest directly observable objects in the universe.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

Marburg virus, related to Ebola, is also extremely deadly, and has no available vaccine.