Educational Science

What's Behind the Massive Midwestern Floods: 2 Giant Waves of Water

Historic floods across the Midwest have left three dead, prompted mass evacuations, and drowned cities. The floods aren’t isolated incidents, however: Two giant waves of water are rolling down from the country's far-northern middle expanse. One wave is following the path of the Missouri River toward the Mississippi River, carrying...

Nebraska Flooding Seen from Space in Dramatic Detail

A new series of before-and-after images shows the ongoing flooding in Nebraska in jaw-dropping detail. The images, created by the European Union's Earth-observation program, Copernicus, show rivers turned to lakes and farms and towns underwater. The record flooding is the result of a bomb cyclone that struck the central U.S....

An oasis teeming with ponds and wildflowers has formed at Death Valley National Park, one of the hottest and driest places in the world, following a major hurricane this summer. Hurricane Hilary, which hit the area in August, provided some much-needed rainfall for the national park, located in eastern California,...

Maya Underworld: Peek Inside the World's Longest Flooded Cave

Exploring an underworld (Image credit: Karla Ortega/GAM)Divers enter the flooded underworld that lies beneath the Yucatán Peninsula. Cave explorers with the Great Maya Aquifer Project announced this week that two cave systems near the city of Tulum are actually one, making the system the longest flooded series of caves in...

'Monsoon on steroids' has flooded vast swaths of Pakistan, disturbing satellite images show

New satellite images show the extent of the catastrophic floods now inundating Pakistan, leaving approximately one-third of the country underwater. The worst of the floods occurred along a stretch of the Indus River that overflowed, forming a massive lake. The flooding, driven by unusually heavy monsoon rains, has affected more...

A 'wobble' in the moon's orbit could result in record flooding in the 2030s, new study finds

Climate change has already increased the frequency and severity of hurricanes and other extreme weather events around the world. But there's a smaller, less splashy threat on the horizon that could wreak havoc on America's coasts. High-tide floods, also called nuisance floods, occur in coastal areas when tides reach about...

The Science Behind Washington's Scary 'Flash Flood Emergency'

TURN AROUND DON'T DROWN! That was the all-caps message the D.C./Baltimore National Weather Service (NWS) issued today (July 8) as surging water engulfed roads and stranded drivers — requiring multiple water rescues. The severe flooding prompted the office to issue a somewhat unusual flash flood emergency declaration in Washington D.C....

Fossils of 400-million-year-old 'Excalibur worm' discovered in Australia

According to the old English legend, Excalibur is a magical sword wielded by the legendary King Arthur — purveyor of round tables and protector of Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries. Today, the legend of that enchanted blade lives on… in the name of a prehistoric worm that you...

Venice Suffers Worst Flooding in 50 Years, Mayor Blames Climate Change

Venice is in a state of emergency as the Italian city deals with the aftermath of one of the worst floods in its history. Late on Tuesday (Nov. 12), high tides from the surrounding lagoon surged onto the more than 100 islands that make up Venice, flooding 85% of the...

Exquisitely-preserved mammoth tusk found 10,000 feet underwater

Researchers have discovered a Columbian mammoth's (Mammuthus columbi) tusk 185 miles (300 kilometers) off the coast of California. Scientists estimate that the tusk, which was found at a depth of about 10,000 feet (3,070 meters), is well over 100,000 years old. Related: Photos: a 40,000-year-old mammoth autopsy You start to...