Watch underwater photosynthesis make water look like champagne

An overview of oxygenic photosynthesis, which releases oxygen from breaking down water

Within the membranes of chloroplasts, electrons in pigments are energized by light and transferred across a series of molecules until they create the energetic NADPH molecule. This transfer also powers a hydrogen pump, which creates an ion imbalance that, when relieved, produces energetic ATP molecules. Outside the membranes, both NADPH and ATP are used to synthesize G3Ps, which are funneled into other metabolic pathways to produce sugars.

View the rainbow effect on the waters at First Landing State Park

The phenomenon results from light interacting with a thin film of natural oils on the surface of swamps and marshes at the site, not unlike the coloration seen in soap bubbles. The oils originate from decaying vegetation or from anaerobic bacteria reducing iron in soil. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Massive blooms of microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates produce the neon blue light seen in glowing tides.

Watch a time-lapse from space of photosynthesis across Earth

Using NASA satellite imagery, carbon absorption can be tracked and serves as a proxy for photosynthetic activity on land and in the oceans. Over the course of a year, seasonal changes can be observed as plants become dormant in the fall and active again in the spring.

Watch David Attenborough’s documentary on bioluminescent creatures

Sea creatures can make their bodies glow to camouflage themselves by mimicking the appearance of the night sky as seen from underwater. Species without this ability can form a symbiotic relationship with bioluminescent bacteria or eat other organisms with relevant biochemicals.

Nearly half the oxygen we breathe comes from photosynthetic plankton, not plants

Although the Amazon Rainforest is considered the "lungs of the Earth," it only produces 20% of the planet's oxygen, while phytoplankton, or microalgae, generate more than twice as much, despite making up less than 1% of the total mass of photosynthetic organisms on the planet. Through photosynthesis, microalgae also absorb up to 40% of global carbon emissions.

Underwater nighttime photos capture the ocean's diversity

Self-taught photographer Steven Kovacs explores Palm Beach's ocean after sunset, capturing tiny sea creatures in deep waters. Over eight years, he's dived into Florida's eastern coast, drifting from 0 to 100 feet, photographing rarely seen larval fish. Lacking formal marine biology training, Kovacs collaborates globally to identify species like cusk eels and the female blanket octopus, known for its revealing membrane. Check out his photos here.

Will-o'-the-wisps may be the result of microlightning between bubbles

Methane and air bubbles moving through water can generate small sparks between them, which can ignite gas. The above-ground phenomenon may have historically been the result of passing travelers igniting swamp gas with their lanterns. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Water is naturally tinted with a slight blue, but sediments and organics can alter its color

The innate coloration comes from water absorbing red light in the visible spectrum more than green or blue, giving shallow waters in some parts of the Caribbean their turquoise hue. If sand is light, it can be churned up by turbulent water, clouding its appearance. Plankton and other organisms can color water by affecting how the rest of the spectrum is absorbed or reflected.

How specialized oxygen mixtures like heliox enable deep diving without feeling drunk

Beyond a depth of about 30 meters (98 feet), if divers are breathing surface air, which is about 78% nitrogen, underwater pressure forces more nitrogen into the bloodstream and induces nitrogen narcosis, whose symptoms resemble alcohol intoxication. Through saturation diving, where nitrogen is replaced with helium—an inert gas—deep divers can maintain cognitive function while working for extended periods.

Scientific applications of bubbles include logic gates, laser production, and medical imaging

Microbubbles of nonreactive gas can be administered to improve the reflection of sound waves and the resulting imaging during an ultrasound. Bouncing light waves within a bubble can stimulate emission of light from a trapped chemical, just as occurs within a laser, and bubbles can act as valves that control the flow and reaction rates in microfluidic systems.

The surprising science behind Pop Rocks

Have you ever wondered why Pop Rocks makes tiny explosions in your mouth? Well, there’s actually pressurized carbon dioxide bubbles trapped within the sugary candy. This 19-second video shows you what Pop Rocks look like under a microscope.

The Google Doodle honoring Jan Ingenhousz, who discovered oxygenic photosynthesis

Born in 1730, the Dutch scientist expanded on existing knowledge that plants produce and absorb gases in his 1779 paper, which detailed that light was necessary for the biochemical processes that produce oxygen in plant leaves. He also identified that all parts of plants produce carbon dioxide at night.

A chemical overview of water, whose uncommon properties help sustain life on Earth

The uneven distribution of charge in water molecules allows them to bond to each other and to surfaces, enabling them to move against gravity, including up plants through roots and stems. These bonds also keep water in a liquid state over a wider temperature range and make it less dense as it freezes. This causes ice to float and form an insulating layer for underwater ecosystems, from which all life originated.

Photographer captures glowing flowers in ultraviolet light

Debora Lombardi utilizes ultraviolet light to reveal unseen colors in flowers, re-shaping their natural beauty. Beginning during the lockdown of March 2020, Lombardi's experimentation evolved, culminating in a series recognized by the World Photography Organization. Her work highlights vibrant purples, blues, and yellows, transforming flowers into surreal, otherworldly specimens by exposing them to UV light in her Italy-based studio.

Watch experts blindly taste test Champagne and other sparkling wines

Champagne’s prestige typically comes with a high price. So is it worth it? Professional wine judge Dr. Matthew Horkey invites a Champagne expert and a producer to a blind taste test to find out. The individuals try sparkling wines from across the world and do their best to sniff out (sip out?) which is the real-deal Champagne.

View colorful flowers that grow on cacti and succulents, popular xerophilic organisms

These dry-loving organisms are able to retain the water they need to grow and reproduce in deserts and arid grasslands through a suite of adaptations, including thick, fleshy stems that store abundant water, a waxy coating that helps prevent water loss, and an uncommon form of photosynthesis that loses less water.

JWST might spot life faster on ocean worlds than Earth-like ones

Unlike Earth-like planets, hycean worlds with thick hydrogen atmospheres and deep oceans could allow biosignature gases like methyl halides to accumulate in detectable levels. These gases, linked to microbial life on Earth, are easier for the James Webb Space Telescope to identify than traditional markers like oxygen or methane.

Coral reefs get their colors from zooxanthellae—microorganisms that line corals' digestive tracts and provide them with sugars in exchange for a home within this protective tissue.

Watch students comically portray how plants can detoxify the environment

Through a series of processes that collectively make up phytoremediation, plants can take up pollutants from soil and water through their roots, then break them down, release them as less harmful gases, or store them within their cells. Any plants that sequester heavy metals or other toxins must be removed and managed after the environment is decontaminated.

Distinguishing club soda, seltzer, and sparkling water

The three forms of drinking water are similar, but their differences lie mostly in the presence and proportion of minerals and carbonation. Read this quick explainer on the major differences.

How flooding the Dead Sea could help the climate

There are many dead zones in the world with low elevation and very little rainfall that provide little to no benefits to the ecosystem or climate. This digestible, thorough article explains how piping in nearby water to flood these areas could...

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Explore the animals that populate the depths of the ocean, from fish and coral in the first few hundred feet, all the way down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The extremophilic origins of watermelon snow and its impact on glacial melting

Also known as "blood snow," the red coloration is produced by snow algae that thrive in extremely cold conditions and take the shape of red spherical cysts in winter. To protect themselves from more intense summer solar radiation, these psychrophiles accumulate red, orange, and yellow pigments, intensifying their coloration and causing glaciers to reflect less sunlight than if they were white.

A nuclear reactor's characteristic blue light is produced from superluminal particles

When light travels through water, its effective speed is 25% lower than its speed in a vacuum. Just as sound waves bunch up and produce a sonic boom when objects move faster than the speed of sound, particles moving faster than this reduced speed generate a shock wave of light, visible as a blue hue.

Explore the water footprint of producing various proteins, fruits, and vegetables

This interactive gallery highlights the various types of water behind the production of biofuels, foods, and materials such as cotton. Diets high in bovine meat, whose production requires 15,415 liters of water per kilogram (1,847 gallons per pound), are among the most water-intensive, whereas every kilogram of vegetables uses 322 liters of water (39 gal/lb) to produce.

A simple infographic explaining how coral bleaching works

When corals are stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, they expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues, causing them to turn completely white.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Watch 'Airhead,' a short movie created by Sora and post-production FX

Using OpenAI’s video-generation tool Sora, a user can create impressive, hyper-realistic video footage from a simple text prompt. This short film features a whimsical look at a balloon-headed person navigating the world.

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.

Stars appear to twinkle because turbulence in the motion of molecules in Earth's atmosphere causes light to bend and wiggle rapidly on its way to the surface—a phenomenon called scintillation.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Scientists testing how climate change affects plants found, in a years-long simulation study, that poison ivy grew 70% faster with the resulting extra carbon dioxide.

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.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

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.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

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.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

When a Paris department store hesitated to sell Estée Lauder's perfume, she 'accidentally' broke a bottle, causing the smell to spread throughout the store and shoppers to start asking to buy the scent.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.