Planet Earth, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 31, 2015

El Morro: Stunning Photos of New Mexico's Sandstone Bluff

In the northwestern part of New Mexico, a natural outcropping of sandstone has produced a spectacular landmark in this cold, high desert region. History in the desert Known as El Morro (which means the heartland or the bluff in Spanish), this massive promontory has been a beacon for travelers and...

Dec 31, 2015

Herbivores: Facts About Plant Eaters

An herbivore is an animal or insect that only eats vegetation, such as grasses, fruits, leaves, vegetables, roots and bulbs. Herbivores only eat things that need photosynthesis to live. This excludes insects, spiders, fish and other animals. Some parasitic plants that feed off of other plants are also considered herbivores....

Dec 31, 2015

As the World Tackles Climate Change, is Meat Off the Table? (Op-Ed)

Alexandra Clark is a sustainable-food campaigner at Humane Society International. She recently presented HSI's meat reduction work at the COP21 in Paris. Prior to joining HSI, Clark worked for the vice president of the European Parliament and was responsible for a number of high-profile parliamentary initiatives on sustainable food systems....

Nov 30, 2017

10 Times Earth Revealed Its Weirdness in 2017

Astonishing Earth (Image credit: NASA)For thousands of years, people have been studying planet Earth, and yet it continues to astonish us. Apart from being our home, Earth is the only world that we know of that supports any form of life. Its atmosphere and geology are dynamic and ever-changing. It...

Oct 31, 2017

2017 Is Slated to Be in Top 3 Hottest Years of All Time

The year isn't over yet, but 2017 is already expected to be the second- or third-hottest year on record, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced today (Nov. 6) at the United Nations climate change conference in Bonn, Germany. From January to September 2017, the average global temperature was 1.98 degrees...

Sep 30, 2017

Life on Earth May Have Started with a Cosmic Splash

A new study bolsters the theory that the chemical origins of life on Earth were midwifed by meteorites that delivered essential building blocks from space. Meteorites slamming into warm, small ponds on the planet's rising land surfaces more than 4 billion years ago could have delivered those building blocks into...

Sep 30, 2017

Hurricane Ophelia on Rare Course Toward Ireland, U.K.

As if the 2017 hurricane season weren’t already notable enough, now Hurricane Ophelia is on a rare track toward Ireland and the British Isles. While it will no longer be a tropical system by the time it reaches them, it could still bring rain, stormy seas and winds gusting up...

Aug 31, 2017

3 Hurricanes Are Roiling the Atlantic At Once

The Atlantic officially has three hurricanes churning simultaneously — Irma, Jose and Katia. Irma, a powerful Category 5 storm, is currently battering Puerto Rico and on track to slam into Florida, while Jose is barreling toward the Caribbean Islands, while Katia is menacing the Gulf of Mexico. Both Jose and...

Aug 31, 2017

If Hurricane Irma Hits Miami, Damage Could Be 'Unprecedented'

As Hurricane Irma barrels toward Florida, it's looking increasingly likely that South Florida, a major population hub, could take a major hit from the monster storm. But how bad would a direct hit from Hurricane Irma be? The answer is really, really bad. The storm could cause unprecedented levels of...

Aug 31, 2017

Where Will Hurricane Irma Make Landfall on the Florida Peninsula?

Ferocious Hurricane Irma continues to roar through the Atlantic on its path toward the Florida Peninsula. As of 2 p.m. EDT today (Sept. 8), the eye of Hurricane Irma was located 57 miles (92 kilometers) off the northern coast of Cuba, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). The fierce...

Aug 31, 2017

Irma Batters Florida, Could Retain Hurricane Strength Through Monday

Irma struck the U.S. mainland today (Sept. 10), making landfall in Florida at 9:10 a.m. local time as a Category 4 hurricane, and experts predict that Irma will remain a hurricane though the morning of Sept. 11 and perhaps longer. After hitting Cudjoe Key in the Florida Keys, Irma moved...

Aug 31, 2017

3 People Die After Falling into Volcanic Crater

Three members of a family have died after falling into a volcanic crater in Italy, according to news reports. The family of four from northeastern Italy was on vacation in Pozzuoli, viewing the sulfurous Solfatara crater. Their 11-year-old son ran through a safety barrier and went onto an unstable portion...

Aug 31, 2017

Human-Caused Climate Change Could Doom Coastal Cities, Neil Tyson Says

The United States might not be able to recover from climate change if extreme weather events and flooding continue to swamp the country's largest coastal cities, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson told CNN yesterday (Sept. 17). In an interview with reporter and TV host Fareed Zakaria on CNN's GPS, Tyson discussed...

Aug 31, 2017

Hurricane Maria's Aftermath: Photos Reveal Devastation on Caribbean Islands

Hurricane Maria Aftermath (Image credit: NASA/Randy Bresnik/Twitter)Hurricane Maria underwent a dramatic transformation on Sept. 18, 2017, when the Category 1 storm strengthened into a major beast of a hurricane, reaching Category 5 status in just 18 hours. The storm roared through the Caribbean, smacking into the island of Dominica, before...

Jul 31, 2017

Death Valley Breaks Record for Hottest Month Ever in the US

July temperatures in Death Valley have incinerated previous records. With an average daily high temperature of 107.4 degrees Fahrenheit (41.9 degrees Celsius), July was the valley's hottest month on record, blazing through the former record of 107.2 degrees F (41.8 degrees C) set in 1917, the National Weather Service's Las...