Investigators Think They’ve Solved the Mystery of the Baltimore Bridge Crash
A tiny, misplaced label may have slowly loosened a critical wire on the ship that hit Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, eventually causing a catastrophic failure
Will We Run Out of Rare Earth Elements?
These valuable but difficult-to-extract metals are increasingly important to modern life
The Fossil-Fuel Industry Has a Plan to Drown Earth in Plastic
To keep profits rolling in, oil and gas companies want to turn fossil fuels into a mounting pile of packaging and other plastic products
The mind-bending challenge of warning future humans about nuclear waste
Designing nuclear-waste repositories is part engineering, part anthropology—and part mythmaking
Can a time capsule outlast geology?
A ridiculous but instructive thought experiment involving deep time, plate tectonics, erosion and the slow death of the sun
Scientists Unearth Mysterious Meteorite Crater in China
Thousands of years ago, a space rock hit what is now China, leaving a bowl-shaped crater some 900 meters wide
Chinese Expedition Reveals Unexplored Section of Mysterious Arctic Ocean Ridge
Oceanographers hope to find otherworldly ecosystems at hydrothermal vents on the Arctic seafloor
Climate Action Is Slow—But It Will Still Curb Extreme Heat
Ten years after the Paris climate agreement, the limited progress we’ve made in reducing global warming means that there will be less extreme heat in the future than there would be without the accord
IEA Now Predicts Oil and Gas Demand Will Rise beyond 2030, Departing from Previous Forecasts
The International Energy Agency says weak climate action and energy security fears are effectively delaying peak fossil fuel consumption
Early Arctic Cold Blast Will Sweep Across the U.S., Potentially Breaking Records
An early cold snap will chill much of the U.S., potentially breaking records in the Southeast
A Flicker of Hope for the World’s Rarest Porpoise
The latest report shows that the estimated number of endangered vaquita porpoises has modestly increased
Seeking Profits, Private Companies Look to Light up the Night Sky
Reflect Orbital’s plan to deliver “sunlight on demand” using thousands of giant orbital mirrors is just the latest in a growing list of disruptive commercial activities in space