A primer on reading the rock layers of roadcuts

The US has over 4 million miles of roads. Learn about how highways are designed and the geometry behind what makes them safe and efficient

Explore landforms that exist across America's national parks

Landforms are not just scenic vistas; they are geological storytellers that shape ecosystems, climates, and our understanding of Earth's history. In this comprehensive look at landforms from the National Park Service, you will learn not only about different types of American landforms, but you will understand how these geological features are shaped by various forces, how they reveal an area's geological history, and how they influence climate and ecology.

Paleontologists apply rules about rock layering, fossilization, and radioactivity to date geological samples

Concepts such as the understanding that older rock layers will form beneath newer ones allow scientists to compare the ages of samples from various layers. Although no geological site preserves evidence across all time, samples can be combined with fossils of known age, such as those dated by analyzing the decay of their radioactive isotopes, to reconstruct Earth's timeline.

A guide to crude oil and natural gas extraction, from rig site preparation to land restoration

Requirements for traffic plans, access roads, and noise barriers vary by state and local laws, but once the rig site is prepared, the rig is assembled and digs a well that is then encased in steel and cement to protect groundwater reservoirs. After drilling and testing the extraction pipe, fracking fluid is injected into the rock to create cracks where crude oil resides, allowing it to be pumped out.

A case study of how engineers and geologists at Tullow Oil look for oil reserves

An analysis of surface rocks using aerial and satellite imagery can help narrow the search for crude oil by identifying basins where sedimentary layers have compacted—a key process in oil formation. Surveys that look for variations in Earth's gravitational and magnetic fields consistent with specific rock distributions, or that use sound waves reflected off rock layers—not unlike sonar underwater—can also help map subsurface geology.

An immersive curation of the world's rock art

A living archive of humanity’s ancient art and symbols, our shared history that is embedded as rock art and cave art in the landscape

Minerals, crystals, rocks, and gems explained

Have you ever wondered what differentiates a mineral from a rock or a crystal from a gem? This three-minute video from the American Museum of Natural History elaborates on the unique properties and compositions that separate minerals, rocks,...

Niagara Falls flows over 400-million-year-old layered rock

The falls cut through distinct layers of ancient rock: a hard cap of Lockport Dolomite sits atop softer layers of Rochester and Queenston Shale. This structure allows the falls to maintain a steep vertical drop as erosion undercuts the caprock.

How do archaeologists know where to dig?

Archaeologists spend their days slowly uncovering buried artifacts, but how do they know where to look in the first place? New tech and old-fashioned shoe leather. Watch this five-minute video to learn more.

See top-down views of Washington state's geology with cutting-edge lidar

Lidar is a revolutionary tool that creates visual models of landscapes using rapid light pulse measurements. Geologists in Washington state have deployed the technology to study the state's fault lines, landslides, tsunami inundation zones, and much more.

Explore the system of ancient Roman roads with this interactive

The Itiner-e map includes unpaved secondary roads that connected farms and towns to the empire's primary routes. Explore routes, view three-dimensional elevation, and compare the old roads to contemporary ones with this sprawling interactive project.

How NASA plans to build a lunar base, from roads to habitats

The Apollo program aspires to return humans to the moon—and to build humanity's first permanent habitat on its surface. The project involves complex construction plans, including creating roads from moon dust, baking bricks to build habitats, and more.

Cooling lava naturally creates hexagonal cracks to evenly relieve stress

When lava cools and turns into rock, it contracts and builds up tension, particularly when held in place by the surrounding landscape. Just as drying mud cracks, initial cracks in the rock are random, but quickly organize into a hexagonal pattern, which scientists consider the most space-efficient shape.

The San Andreas Fault is an example of tectonic plates sliding past each other

The transform boundary divides the opposing movements of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates, which create shear zones that distort and fracture rock. These movements produce shallow earthquakes as rocks are gradually displaced hundreds of miles.

The 50 weirdest roadside attractions

A summer road trip isn’t complete without stopping at a few bizarre roadside attractions. This list collects the strangest from every state, including a martini-drinking pink elephant in Indiana, a potato hotel in Idaho, and a giant tire in Michigan.

View the three types of coral reefs, categorized by where they form

Fringing reefs—the most common type—are built from coral depositing calcium carbonate onto the seafloor closest to the shoreline. Barrier reefs grow further from and parallel to the shore, while atolls are the result of mid-ocean volcanoes or seamounts eroding away and leaving a lagoon surrounded by reefs.

The ancient uses of asphalt

Asphalt is derived from bitumen, a naturally occurring byproduct of decomposed organic materials. As one of the thickest forms of petroleum, the substance has been in use by humans and their ancestors for at least 40,000 years for various purposes, including as a sealant, an adhesive, decoration, and more. Learn more about this ancient material here.

Drugs 101: An interactive guide

What's the difference between opioids and psychedelics? This guide details specific drugs and their various associated effects. Drugs in this wheel fall into seven categories: stimulants, depressants, empathogens, psychedelics, dissociatives, cannabinoids, and opioids.

Indoor rock climbing gyms have doubled in a decade in the US

The business saw a jump in growth amid low real estate costs after the 2008 Great Recession. The sport's culture has shifted from serving misfit loners to more family-friendly spots.

A primer on 5G and how it works

You see it mentioned in countless commercials, and your phone might already use it, but do you know what it is? Watch this five-minute primer on the basics of 5G.

Rock 'n' roll began as a hybrid of several American musical styles

Rock ‘n’ roll combined blues, swing, country, and other American musical forms in the late 1940s. From there, it splintered into countless subgenres and is still evolving.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

Henry Varnum Poor published a guide to the railroad industry in 1860

Poor's guide to the railroad industry helped investors evaluate changes and business decisions that might impact their investments. It was the first step in building the thorough datasets tracking companies and industries that Standard & Poor's is known for today.

A quick guide to rosé wine

What is a rosé? Rosé wines are technically reds, though they’re typically served cold and have more flavor characteristics in common with white wines. This primer explains the basics of the fastest-growing wine category in the US. It covers production and rosé-making regions and styles, along with some common tasting notes for each bottle.

Read through the actual text of the US Constitution

This helpful guide from the US Congress includes annotations that provide valuable insights into the background, crafting, and legacy of each article in the document. Additionally, the resource offers accessible legal analysis and interpretations.

An anthropologist spent years riding garbage trucks to understand what our trash says about us

Robin Nagle rode with New York City sanitation workers to trace the hidden life of what we throw out. Her research explores what the things we discard reveal about who we are. 1440 explores the hidden life of trash.

The American Society of Civil Engineers' infrastructure report card gave the US a C in 2025, its highest grade since the project launched in 1998.

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

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

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.

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.

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.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

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.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

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

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

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.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

Between 10 million and 50 million people in the US develop rashes from poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak each year.

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