Tree rings can reveal centuries of environmental change and natural events

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.

Layers in sediment cores hold clues to Earth’s past climate

By analyzing materials such as pollen and algae within the layers of these cores, which are collected from lakes and oceans, scientists can learn what the environment and climate were like when that layer formed.

Visualizing the history of Saturn and its rings

Every 13 to 16 years, Saturn's rings become far less visible because its plane becomes exactly even with Earth's. This visual-rich essay explores the history of humanity's perception of Saturn, from Galileo's first sighting (and dubbing the rings "ears") to the idea that the rings won't last more than a few hundred millions years more. Explore this fascinating planet here.

Wind helps trees develop resistance to collapse

Scientists at Biosphere 2 found that trees grew faster in the facility than those in the wild but collapsed more quickly when replanted outdoors. Researchers uncovered that trees build resistance when pushed and pulled due to wind stress, strengthening their foundational root systems.

A map of the world's changing tree cover

As many of the world's tree species are at risk of extinction, keep track of the growth and decline of trees on Earth with this interactive map. Witness the state of forests worldwide by analyzing tree cover change on GFW’s interactive global forest map using satellite data. Learn about deforestation rates and other land use practices, forest fires, forest communities, biodiversity, and much more.

NASA satellite data and sound recordings used to assess rainforest health

This two-minute video describes the work of scientists who are analyzing the impact of repeated forest fires in the Amazon by recording the unique sounds in degraded forests. The team is using acoustic sensors to record sounds of wildlife in the...

The movement of seismic waves reveals the structure of Earth’s interior

Changes in temperature, density, and composition alter the path of primary and secondary waves, impacting where they are detected along Earth’s surface. These deflections create shadow zones 104 degrees to 140 degrees away from the epicenter, where no waves are directly detected.

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...

Watch a pinecone become a pine tree

Sometimes a closer look at an ordinary process can uncover its glory This timelapse video presents the wondrous natural process of a withering pinecone turning into a full sprouted tree. A nearly two year growth, watch the seed turn to seedling and rise over time.

The complexity of classifying a tree

It may seem obvious to us when we see a tree, but very specific characteristics cause scientists to distinguish trees from other types of plants. This video provides a visual and verbal explanation of distinctions that separate trees from other plants like shrubs or herbs. See a scientific breakdown of these traits.

Glacial ice loss can be determined by listening to escaping bubbles

Glaciers form from the accumulation of layers of snowfall over hundreds to thousands of years, trapping air bubbles that serve as time capsules of atmospheric conditions at the time. When glaciers melt, these bubbles produce a distinctive sound that can be detected by underwater microphones, allowing assessment of melting from a safe distance.

Do trees feel pain?

Trees don’t have nerves or brains. But when they’re wounded, they send underground and airborne warnings to other trees.

Changes in Earth's orbital cycles influence the timing of ice ages

These cycles include changes in Earth's orbit shape, tilt, and wobble, all of which alter how much solar energy different parts of Earth receive over time. Due to orbital eccentricity, summers in the Northern Hemisphere last about 4.5 days longer than winters.

What can we learn from archaeology?

By revealing buried civilizations and dating objects of antiquity, archaeology turns hard data into human stories. But what's the use of knowing these stories? Find out for yourself in this interactive resource that can take you to and through historic sites around the globe.

Boomerang earthquakes reverse direction and ripple back the way they came

Computer simulations show that rapid changes in friction along a fault where an earthquake has traveled for long distances can produce a smaller quake in the opposite direction. Data consistent with the phenomena has only been recorded a handful of times from 2011 to 2023.

Ten impact craters you can visit

See photos of ten wild Earth impact craters across the world, the result of impacts occurring between thousands and millions of years ago.

Watch 1 billion years of tectonic plate movement in 40 seconds

Researchers at the University of Sydney developed the model, incorporating changing plate boundaries rather than just moving continents, to better understand the changes to biological and climatic systems throughout Earth’s history.

Tornadoes produce inaudible signals to humans hours before forming

Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have found that tornado-producing storms generate specific sounds below the range of human hearing, much like the infrasonic signals produced by earthquakes and avalanches. Although difficult to distinguish from wind noise, scientists hope to build systems that use these signals to improve tornado forecasting.

A brief history of Christmas tree design

A celebration of the Christmas tree in all its festive glory. Get a glimpse into its intriguing background and the lore that accompanies it.

A history of raising the alarm, from rattles to 911

Because fires spread so quickly, communities around the world have deployed many tactics to raise the alarm to get help. This history from the Museum of Natural History dives into the use of rattles, bells, and brigades to gather help to fight fires, showing just how far we've come since 911 was introduced in 1968.

Climate change is disrupting maple syrup by shortening its production season

The number of unusually warm winter days in parts of Maine has increased significantly over the past few decades, stressing maple trees into shifted sap flows and leaving producers with less consistent outputs.

Explore the independent lines of evidence behind the theory of evolution

Gradual changes in organisms have been directly observed through artificial selection—humans purposely selecting organisms to breed to pass on specific traits—and in organisms with short lifespans, such as insects and microbes. Analyses of DNA and anatomical structures across different species, as well as fossil records, also reveal ancient shared ancestry consistent with natural selection.

Visualizing 40 years of interest rates

The history of interest rates are a proxy of macroeconomic conditions, with higher interest rates indicating periods of decline requiring artificial central stimulation. In a series of charts illustrating rates and their background conditions, you can see the movement of the economy over a forty-year period ending in 2020. Dive into the data here.

Learn how natural systems exhibit characteristics of chaos theory

In biology, some mathematical models of ecosystem populations and heart irregularities show strong sensitivity to initial conditions, which scientists can simulate to determine quantitative tipping points at which these systems become unstable. Within the social sciences, crowd behavior and the virality of social media posts have shown how human behavior fits within the framework of chaos theory.

East Asian records of auroras may date back to 10,000 BCE

Ancient texts from Japan, Babylon, and China contain accounts of auroras dating back millennia. Because auroral activity and intensity are driven by periodic ebbs and flows in solar activity, these records allow scientists to identify patterns that may help anticipate particularly dangerous future solar storms.

Synchrotron radiation has revealed the fur color of creatures millions of years old

When electrons are accelerated in the loop, they produce intense X-rays that can reveal properties of a sample struck by them, just as X-rays can be used to show bone structure in humans. Studying the reflected light from fossils can uncover the presence of known pigmentation compounds.

Poison ivy will likely become both larger and more resilient due to climate change.

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 each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

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.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

Firework or sparkler burns, even if they cover a relatively small area of skin, can significantly affect our range of motion.

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

Visualize the path of every solar eclipse from 1900 to 2099 and see what each looks like when observed from different locations on Earth.

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.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

Explore chaos in this simulation of two double pendulums, where small differences in the release angles produce wildly different outcomes.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Fear or disgust related to clusters of holes and cracks, called trypophobia, may stem from evolutionary processes to help us avoid pathogens.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

See how Ebola tore through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014-2016.

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

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

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.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.