A nearby super volcano poses an even greater risk to Italy than Vesuvius

Vesuvius has erupted nearly 40 times since Pompeii

With a 17,000-year history and dozens of eruptions since 79 CE, Vesuvius sits atop volatile geological forces that make it an unusually explosive volcano. This explainer breaks down why the volcano remains dangerous today.

The volcano threatening the Greek island of Santorini

Santorini is a popular tourist destination, known for its stunning white architecture and dreamy blue waters. Yet underneath the charming island is a potentially dangerous underwater volcano. Recent earthquakes have triggered nearly half of residents to evacuate, signaling heightened uncertainty about when the volcano could erupt. Researchers studying activity in the region plan to produce detailed hazard maps for Greek authorities to improve local safety and emergency planning.

See Mount Vesuvius from space

Mount Vesuvius is one of the few active volcanos on Europe's mainland. See it from space in this photo from NASA's Earth Observatory. This natural-color image was taken on January 2, 2022, during a break in cloud coverage.

Volcanologist survives 5 eruptions while living on Mount Vesuvius

As physicist Luigi Palmieri ducked around lava flowing down the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, he also solidified the field of volcanology. This article details his contribution to science through his dangerous ventures to the volcano that buried Pompeii...

A nearby town proved even more archaeologically important than Pompeii

Herculaneum, buried under five times more ash than Pompeii, was sealed so completely that food, furniture, and entire buildings survived. This BBC documentary reveals how its discoveries have transformed scholars' understanding of the diets, work, and social mobility of ordinary Romans.

A volcanic island north of Sicily is the world's longest continuously active volcano

Stromboli has been releasing lava for at least 2,000 years, with the earliest recorded eruption dating back to 350 BCE. Its mild but ongoing bursts of bright lava have earned it the nickname, "lighthouse of the Mediterranean."

Many believe a cataclysmic volcanic eruption is imminent at Yellowstone, though experts say it is unlikely

Mike Poland, a scientist at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, estimates the likelihood of the event at one in a million. He cautions, though, that the park poses other potential dangers, including steam explosions and earthquakes.

A 3D animation brings Pompeii's final day to life

This animation recreates the city from a rooftop vantage point, showing how an ordinary day turned deadly as Vesuvius erupted. The most chilling moment comes when a 900-degree cloud of toxic gas engulfs Pompeii in seconds.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

Researchers think most of its residents escaped with their lives—but how?

With only a few hundred bodies recovered, evidence suggests most Pompeiians fled. This TED-Ed animation follows the stories of three hypothetical residents—one who stayed inside, one who ran, and one who fled by sea—to illustrate how their survival ultimately depended on the choices they made.

Explosive volcanic eruptions happen when magma pressure overcomes rock strength

Magma usually stays underground because of a balance between its upward pressure, the weight of the Earth’s crust above, and the crust’s rock strength. Landslides can reduce crust weight, while built-up gas pressure can strengthen magmastatic pressure.

Supervolcanoes can eject enough material to fill one-fourth of the Grand Canyon

Although extremely rare, their released material can trigger winters by blocking the sun and cooling the Earth’s surface for years. The Toba supereruption 74,000 years ago disrupted food chains and reduced the human population to a few thousand.

Explore an interactive map of historical volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis

The Natural Hazards Viewer allows users to map the locations of major natural hazards from 2150 BCE to the present. Advanced filters allow for various refinement methods, including volcano morphology, earthquake magnitude, tsunami height, deaths, and damage.

The deadliest aspect of volcanic eruptions is often not lava, but pyroclastic flows—avalanches of ash, gas, and rock that can move more than half the speed of sound.

Scientists monitor volcanoes with a suitcase-sized observatory called SKATE

Short for Setup for the Kinematic Acquisition of Explosive Eruptions, the device is left to record heat, sound and visual data while volcanologists remain at a safe distance. The $58,000 tool is the successor to the FAMoUS (Fast Multiparametric Setup) prototype.

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.

Leaning Italian tower could fall after nine centuries

Italian officials have secured the area around one of two 12th Century towers in Bologna, fearing its leaning could lead to collapse. Could it fall? Read up on the city's efforts to secure it here.

Volcanic activity can lead to the formation of fertile soils

Ejected rock can introduce key minerals found in fertilizers, including iron, magnesium, and potassium, to improve soil quality. Ash and basalt crystals can be easily absorbed into soils, infusing them with sulfur, oxygen, chlorine, phosphorus, calcium, and other critical elements.

Simulations show unidentified asteroids around Venus may pose a threat to Earth

A new study suggests that Venus' co-orbital asteroids—space rocks that lag ahead or behind the planet—could potentially destroy cities if they strike Earth. While no observed co-orbitals currently pose a threat, observational bias prevents observation of those of greater risk.

Wildlife use Rome's sprawling archaeological sites as urban havens

The Italian capital features some of the world's most famous monuments as the inheritor of ancient Rome's grandeur. This photo essay explores the city's vibrant collection of wildlife, including long-concealed native crabs, peregrine falcons, and the beaver-like nutria.

A list of the world's best pizzerias

Italy may be pizza's ancestral home, but it's not the only place where you can get a top-notch slice. This guide, compiled by a team of anonymous judges, ranks the 50 best pizzerias in the world, Italy, the US, and more, offering a bucket list for pizza-loving completists.

Explore how close you live to some of the most contaminated places in the US

Known as Superfund sites, these toxic locations undergo long-term cleanup to remove hazardous waste, protect health, and restore land for safe reuse. As of 2025, the EPA lists around 1,300 active Superfund sites on its National Priorities List, with more than 450 cleaned and removed since 1980.

See how a 2018 fire in Paradise, California, exposed the limits of emergency coordination

This Frontline documentary shows how the Camp Fire stretched and ultimately overwhelmed the complex web of agencies involved in emergency response, including fire suppression, 911 dispatch, law enforcement, and emergency management, with catastrophic results.

The Geysers is the largest geothermal power complex in the world

Despite the Mayacamas Mountains area north of San Francisco lacking geysers, the name given by a grizzly bear hunter stuck after the construction of The Geysers Resort Hotel to accommodate tourists. Natural steam vents in the region are funneled into more than 12 geothermal plants, each capable of powering about 40,000 homes.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Since 2017, Virgo has helped LIGO localize astronomical phenomena

The detector near Pisa, Italy, coordinates its experimental runs with those in Hanford, Washington, and Livingston, Louisiana. Scientists can triangulate the locations of celestial events that generate gravitational waves using signal arrival times, just as earthquake locations can be determined from measurements at three seismic stations.

The story behind the little Scottish village in the Italian Alps

High in the Italian Alps is Gurro, a small village with a distinct Scottish flair that can be found in its food, clothing, language, and music. At first glance, it may seem like a curiosity, but, as one resident explains in this short video documentary, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for how an Italian town became known as a Scottish hamlet.

The Valley of Mexico sits over 7,000 feet above sea level

Once dominated by the shallow waters of Lake Texcoco, the high-altitude Valley of Mexico—surrounded by volcanic peaks—was home to the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan. This resource breaks down the region’s unique geography and why it became a cradle of Mesoamerican civilization.

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.

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.

Human-to-human transmission of hantavirus remains extremely rare, so the 2026 hantavirus cruise ship outbreak doesn't mean we're facing a COVID-style pandemic risk.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

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

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

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

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.

Waves off the coast of Nazaré, Portugal, can reach over 100 feet and are caused by the area's deep underwater canyon geography

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

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 Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

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

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

How fusion—which releases energy when two lighter atoms combine to form a heavier atom—differs from fission

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

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.

See this overview of the firework rules across all 50 states, ranging from a complete ban on non-professional fireworks in Massachusetts to states with more lax rules like Indiana.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

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