The paleontologist Pincelli Hull has nailed down the timing and speed of the extinction that killed off the dinosaurs — details that carry ominous warnings for today.
Giant blobs nestled deep in the Earth may influence everything from the structure of island chains to mass-extinction events.
Astronomers have discovered a complex planetary system still swirling into existence.
Two women programmers played a pivotal role in the birth of chaos theory. Their previously untold story illustrates the changing status of computation in science.
A new experiment confirms the existence of “superionic ice,” a bizarre form of water that might comprise the bulk of giant icy planets throughout the universe.
Brief cosmic blips called fast radio bursts have puzzled astronomers since their discovery earlier this decade. Now researchers appear to be close to understanding what powers them.
An analysis of lunar craters has found that we’ve been living in a relatively violent period in cosmic history.
Simple physical principles can be used to describe how rivers grow everywhere from Florida to Mars.
Hot spots have been discovered orbiting just outside the supermassive black hole at the galaxy’s center. Their motions have given us the closest look at that violent environment.