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How I Contained the Mississippi
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commander makes the tough, smart decisions necessary to save cities and lives. 05.04.2012
Does Rain Come From Life in the Clouds?
Scientists are making their first forays into the mysterious world of biology miles up in the air. Their startling conclusion: That ecosystem in the sky might influence tomorrow's weather and next year's harvest. 04.20.2012
A Storm-Chaser Who's Looked Straight Into a Tornado's Heart
The tornadoes that recently swept through the Dallas Forth Worth area were a reminder of their destructive power. While the most sensible response might be to go as far away as possible from such things, atmospheric scientist Joshua Wurman runs right at them. 04.10.2012
Climate Engineers Get a PR Lesson
When you talk about messing with the planet, people can get pretty jumpy. 04.03.2012
Fierce Old Warplane Has a New Mission: Flying Into the Hearts of Thunderstorms
Equipped with heavy armor and an impressively powerful cannon, the A-10 Thunderbolt was built to survive. 03.27.2012
Water Wranglers
DISCOVER co-sponsors a round table discussion on the future of water on a changing planet. 03.13.2012
When Arctic Ice Locks up Your Submarine, It's Time to Break Out the Chainsaw
The U.S. Navy runs into an unusual obstacle as it increases its activity in the far north. 02.08.2012
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Clouds
Some are visible only after sunset, none are created by seeding, and one chewed on a fighter pilot for half an hour before spitting him out, alive. 01.30.2012
Fortress of Solitude-like Cave Houses Ridiculously Slow-Growing Crystals
Researcher uses a custom-built, ultrasensitive microscope to determine that a sample grew 0.000000000014 millimeter per second—the equivalent of a pencil width every 16,000 years. 01.18.2012
#73: Quake Science on Trial in Italy
Can scientists be held accountable for deaths in a quake they didn't predict? 01.03.2012
#75: Is That Water Flowing on Mars?
There may be water—and even life—in them there hills. 12.27.2011
#53: Did Earth’s Gold Come From Outer Space?
Money never grows on trees, but precious metals do sometimes fall from the sky. 12.27.2011
#52: Superstorm Sweeps Across Saturn
It made even the biggest storms on Earth look puny. 12.27.2011
#41: The Ozone Satellite, 1991–2011
It proved the damage caused by CFCs, helped predict climate changes, and saw the beginning of the recovery of the ozone layer. 12.27.2011
#45: Have Humans Left a Permanent Scar on the Geologic Record
The Anthropocene is a man-made era, an increasingly vocal group of scientists holds. 12.22.2011
#89: Weather Moves Continents
Accelerated monsoons in Himalayas have weathered rock, increasing speed of India's tectonic plate. 12.20.2011
#15: Lessons From the Great Japanese Quake
12.20.2011
The Big Debate Over the Oldest Life on Earth
One researcher says he has the oldest fossils ever found; another says that's just mangled, pressure-cooked rock. 12.07.2011
World's Deepest Known Animal: Worm That Lives Under Almost a Mile of Rock
Researchers dubbed it "Halicephalobus mephisto," from the Greek for “he who loves not the light.” 10.12.2011
Winemaking: a Combination of Science, Nature, Art, and Footwork
Each glass tells you something about the wine's milieu as well as the vintner's approach. 09.27.2011
Meet the Obscure, Useful Metals Lurking in Products All Around You
Without the rare earths, there would be no iPods and no hybrid cars. But who has even heard of erbium or ytterbium? 09.22.2011
Storm-Chasing, a Chess Match With Nature
Two fans of extreme weather head for Tornado Alley to look for twisters—but stay the heck out of their way. 09.13.2011
A Shock to the Heartland
This week's earthquake in Virginia calls to mind another part of the country that faces a surprising level of earthquake risk: the New Madrid Seismic Zone, near the middle of the Mississippi River. 08.25.2011
Unraveling the Mysteries Under Our Very Feet
The farthest we have ventured inside our own planet got us only 0.4 percent of the way to the core. The inner earth has been terra incognita until some recent advances in peering deep below Earth's crust. 08.11.2011
20 Things You Didn’t Know About... Crystals
The ones inside comets forged by the Sun, the ones buried under Manhattan, and the "crystal" ones that aren't crystal at all 07.05.2011
Alvin Gets a $40 Million, 21st-Century Makeover
The esteemed deep-sea submersible will soon be able to go four miles under the ocean's surface, allowing it to explore 98 of the ocean. 06.24.2011
Lightning Unleashes Antimatter Storms
You don't have to go all the way to supernovas to find natural events powerful enough to generate gamma rays... 06.06.2011
Old Faithful Supports Tourism in Wyoming; Cold Faithful May Support Life on Elceladus
Geysers gush massive columns of hot water and steam from fissures in the ground, offering a rare look at the earth’s inner workings. 05.17.2011
The Lightning Hunters
Scientists set up camp—and lots of specialized gear—near Cape Canaveral, in Lightning Alley, to try to decode the elusive physics of the flashes. 05.16.2011
Why Did Earth Have a Poison-Filled "Boring Billion" Years?
Andrew Kroll argues that during this apparently stagnant time, monumental changes were afoot, setting the stage for the geyser of evolutionary change that followed, and the complex world we see today. 02.26.2011
Hot Zone—A Warming Planet's Rising Tide of Disaster
Dengue in Texas. Malaria in New York. Hypertoxic pollen in Baltimore. Climate change is making disease and other humanitarian threats ever more challenging. 02.04.2011
What Happens in Vegas Gets Flipped by Plate Tectonics
Just a few miles from the perfectly enclosed, artificial worlds of the Strip's casinos, there lie some beautiful and accessible spectacles of nature. 02.02.2011
Driving Through Martian Storms on Earth
In a parched Nevada valley, scientists pursue miniature cousins of the whirlwinds that rage across the surface of the Red Planet. 01.31.2011
The Unique Climatic Zone Known as Cities
Recent research shows how spaces like urban canyons create distinctive weather patterns—and how to prevent them from causing weather disasters. 01.30.2011
Geologists Find Way to Peer Back in Time & Down Into Earth's Mantle
Part of Canada's Baffin Island is made of an ancestral rock that is nearly as old as our planet. 01.28.2011
Become a Human Seismograph
Crowdsourcing gives geologists valuable new data. 01.08.2011
Earth On Fire
Thousands of hidden fires smolder and rage through the world’s coal deposits, quietly releasing gases that can ruin health, devastate communities, and heat the planet. 01.04.2011
#98: Roaming Rocks of Death Valley
12.16.2010
#94: Natural Cycle Melts Alpine Glaciers
12.16.2010
#87: A Superfast Magnetic Shift
12.16.2010
#84: Yardstick for Killer Waves
12.16.2010
# 38: Sinkhole Eats Guatemala City
12.16.2010
#35: Haitian Quake Signals Future Shocks
12.16.2010
The 100 Top Science Stories of 2010
Every year DISCOVER sorts through the scientific accomplishments of the past 12 months, and assembles a list of the coolest experiments, most brilliant discoveries, and most world-changing events. As you page through the countdown to the #1 science story, we think you'll come to the same conclusion we did: 2010 was quite a year. 12.16.2010
7 Visions of Our Hot, Awful Future
A bounty of 2010 books predict the future in a globally warmed world. Among the forecasts: boom town Detroit, abandoned Miami, an Arctic black gold rush, and a weirdly strong dried fruit market. 12.13.2010
Iceland's Monster Bares Its Heart
Volcanologists got perhaps their best-ever look into a volcano earlier this year. 12.04.2010
Renewed Hope for Life on the Red Planet
Is anything stirring on the dusty surface of Mars? A few bold scientists say we need speculate no longer: We have already found strong evidence of life there. 11.23.2010
The Moon Is Always New Nowadays
It is wetter, weirder, and a lot more valuable than we knew. No wonder Earth’s nearest neighbor in space is suddenly attracting a ton of interest. 09.23.2010
5 Questions for the Woman Who Watches Weather—on Saturn's Moon Titan
Emily Schaller looks closely at the only body in the solar system with a weather cycle we can study. 09.22.2010
Destination Science: Caves, Hot springs, and Diamonds in the Ozarks
Arkansas' unique geological history has produced a surprising number of beautiful natural attractions. 08.30.2010
8 Keys to Deciphering Ancient Climates
Our lives extend only decades, so how do scientists study climate going back thousands and millions of years? Ancient pollen, clam shells, columns of sheer ice, and more. 07.08.2010
10 Science Hotspots—Where Mother Nature Reveals Her Secrets
From glaciers to undersea vents to tornado-wracked plains, these are the locations that draw boatloads of scientists from all over the world. 06.30.2010
Exactly What Happens to the Ground at a Fault Line?
A special observatory 2 miles underground plus a great aerial photo illustrate why the earth trembles like it did in Haiti. 05.13.2010
Can Geothermal Power Our Future—Without Shaking Our Cities?
New kinds of high-tech heat carriers could help plants achieve both efficiency and safety. 04.12.2010
10 Bizarre-Looking Tricks of the Weather
These may look like signs from the divine or from the aliens beyond, but actually, weather is just weird. 03.16.2010
The Coolest Science Experiments in Antarctica
Researchers go neutrino-hunting and penguin-watching at the South Pole. 02.25.2010
Forget Putting CO2 Under Rock—Let's Turn It *Into* Rock
New research on carbon sequestration suggests that carbon dioxide could be chemically converted to a solid, providing a safe way to get rid of a lot of greenhouse gas. 02.10.2010
#54: Seismic Waves Reveal the Thickness of Tectonic Plates: ~50 Miles
By analyzing how waves change speed and direction, researchers were able to locate the boundary between rigid tectonic plates and the hot, pliable asthenosphere. 12.30.2009
#77: Did an Early Pummeling of Asteroids Lead to Life on Earth?
Early organisms apparently survived the Late Heavy Bombardment—which may have made our planet a much comfier place to live. 12.22.2009
#85: Fossilized Plankton Show the Effect of Fossil Fuels
Researchers develop a clever new technique to more accurately gauge historical levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. 12.20.2009
#91: The Strange Process That Made Earth's Oxygen
Less volcanism led to a "nickel famine," which led to the downfall of methanogens, which led to the rise of cyanobacteria, which led to the boom in oxygen, which led to us. 12.18.2009
The Man Who Discovered What Killed the Dinosaurs
Geologist Walter Alvarez describes how rocks tell the story of Earth's history. 10.26.2009
The 9 Industries That Will Be Most Screwed by Global Warming
If climate change reaches scientists' more dire predictions, it could change every facet of our society. But some industries will be especially hammered. 10.02.2009
Disaster! The Most Destructive Volcanic Eruptions in History
Iceland's current eruption may be making headlines, but it's nothing compared to the explosions at Pompeii, Santorini, and Pinatubo in days gone by. 06.23.2009
Building an Interstate Highway System for Energy
Tomorrow’s smart grid will keep the lights on and factories humming with clean (but fickle) renewable energy. 06.10.2009
A Scientist's Guide to Finding Alien Life: Where, When, and in What Universe
A variety of new findings point to the "habitable zones" where we're likely to find extraterrestrials. 05.11.2009
The World's Biggest Tornado Hunt
Next month, 100 meteorologists will try to finally understand the dynamics of tornadoes—like the one that killed three people in Mena, Arkansas, last night. 04.10.2009
Diamonds Are a Geologist's Best Friend
Tiny carbon spheres hidden under rock and ice may be telltales of cataclysmic comet strikes. 04.06.2009
The Strange Forests that Drink—and Eat—Fog
Several forests around the world use fog to get critical moisture and nutrients. 03.30.2009
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Time
The beginning, the end, and the funny habits of our favorite ticking force. 03.12.2009
What Is This? A Dirty Sheep?
Stay away: these poofy blobs are actually quite deadly. 03.09.2009
What is This? A Windshield's Worst Nightmare Come True?
It may look like a worthless rock, but it can be encrusted with diamonds or used to find black gold. 02.05.2009
Nature's Great Piece of Art-Slash-Geometry Lesson: The Snowflake
What makes them look like that, investigating the age-old theory of snowflake singularity, and more 01.07.2009
The Year in Earth Science
Life from space, killer hail, bacterial weather, and more 12.24.2008
#5: Nations Stake Their Claims to a Melting Arctic
Undiscovered oil and gas reserves below the ice set off a polar gold rush. 12.22.2008
#67: Drilling, Not Earthquake, Caused Giant Hot Mud Volcano
Some claim an earthquake caused this mud river, but new research says otherwise. 12.10.2008
#73: Giant Ice Meteors Fall From Clear Skies
20-pound chunks of ice falling on a sunny day? It's no urban myth. 12.09.2008
#88: Bacteria Can Control the Weather
The tiny organisms may play a big role in causing precipitation. 12.07.2008
#93: Physicists Discover the Source of Earth’s "Mystery Hiss"
A strange electromagnetic wave follows the path of sound waves through water. 12.05.2008
The Most Amazing Things the Sky Can Do
Rainbows, mirages, halos, and more: Tim Herd explains the gamut of visual wonders in the book Kaleidoscope Sky. 12.04.2008
Visual Science: The Remote-Controlled Helicopter That Predicts Volcanic Eruptions
Aerovolc 1 has a very sharp sense of smell—and not a shred of fear. 11.18.2008
Global Warming Math: The Hard Numbers
A clear-eyed look at the magnitude of global warming problem—and the cost in getting rid of it. 10.18.2008
Visual Science: The History of the World, Contained in a Block of Ice
Ice core samples reveal the atmosphere's secrets as far back as 400,000 years. 10.14.2008
How—and Where—Will We Live in 2015?
The future is now for sustainable cities in the U.K., China, and U.A.E. 10.08.2008
The Solar System Looks Way Better Than It Used To
A comparison of landmark space pictures shows our imaging tech has improved in 40 years. A lot. 10.07.2008
Water at Ocean Vents Isn't Water—It's a Gas-Liquid Hybrid
You've heard about the freaky animals at ocean vents. Now check out the freaky water. 10.05.2008
Rock-a-Pedia
A new open-source atlas could keep you from falling into a sinkhole and help settle the great Arctic land grab. 10.03.2008
The King of Green Architecture
William McDonough aims to create buildings that produce oxygen, sequester carbon, and produce more power than they use. 09.28.2008
The Man Who Aims to Feed Humanity's Future
Pedro Sanchez says we need nanofertilizers, transgenic crops, and governments and investors with cojones. 09.12.2008
What Invisible Things Are in the Surfaces You Touch and Air You Breathe?
A DISCOVER editor delves into the unseen forces that affect our lives. 08.29.2008
How to Hitchhike Across the Globe Without Leaving Your Living Room
The 360° World Atlas turns anyone with a computer into a global traveler. 08.17.2008
Visual Science: The Daredevils Who Chase One of the Sky's Greatest Mysteries
Some brave pilots fly tiny gliders into an amazing type of cloud that forms only in Australia. 08.14.2008
A Complete History of Carbon
A new book takes readers through the birth and unstoppable rise of this dangerous element. 08.04.2008
20 Things You Didn't Know About... The Summer Solstice
Galileo was forced to recant his astronomical theories on the summer solstice of 1633. 06.19.2008
The Biggest Weather-Control Flubs in History
How many ways can humans fail at manipulating nature? 06.06.2008
Harnessing the Weather
Could new technology help humans eliminate "acts of God"? 06.06.2008
3 Amazing Science Projects from Around the Globe
Iron Man suits, ice telescopes, and underwater CO2 traps 06.02.2008
Each Grain of Sand a Tiny Work of Art
Microscopic photos of sand show that it's a lot more than just little tan rocks. 05.01.2008
The Latest Endangered Species: Vacation Spots
Check out these 7 amazing locales soon; they may not be around for long. 04.10.2008
Kaleidoscope Sky
03.07.2008
The Key to Safe and Effective Carbon Sequestration
Some rock acts as a natural stopper to buried carbon dioxide. 02.29.2008
5 Most Radical Ways to Squelch a Climate Crisis
Why we may need to reprogram the planet—and how we can do it. 02.25.2008
If Life Gives You Methane, Make Methane Energy
The global warming risk that's also a great opportunity 01.31.2008
72. Crust Formed Early In Earth’s History
01.14.2008
60. Diamonds From Outer Space
01.09.2008
25. African Lightning Stirs U.S. Hurricanes
12.21.2007
Hell Froze Over Earlier Than We Thought
Ancient diamonds suggest a thick skin on the early Earth. 12.20.2007
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Gold
Anti-inflammatory, protector of astronaut eyes, and excrement of the gods 11.15.2007
Attack of the Giant (Extinct) Insects!
They just don't make two-foot dragonflies like they used to. Here's why. 11.02.2007
Birds Navigate Using Magnetic Compass-Vision
Combined with a GPS beak, it leads them on marathon migrations. 10.30.2007
NASA's 6 Best Earth-Based Research Projects
Ultrafast scramjets, mach-10 wind tunnels, cockpit displays that see through clouds... 10.17.2007
Quasars Say Earth Is 1/2 a Pinkie Smaller
We now know the planet is quite mushy—but at least we know. 10.12.2007
The Last Unexplored Place on Earth
Scientists race to discover the secret world buried miles beneath Antarctica. 09.28.2007
The Moon Passes Gas
Even a rock with no atmosphere needs to let it out sometimes. 09.24.2007
Watching the Birth—and Death—of an Island
In the South Pacific, the crew of a yacht saw new land form right beneath their boat. 08.08.2007
Earth Speaks in an Inaudible Voice
You can’t hear it, but our planet’s ultradeep hum could save your life. 08.02.2007
Journey to the Center of the Earth
A probe might reveal what's happening at the core. 06.08.2007
Everything on Earth Is in the Air
Cosmic dust, cockroach parts, chloroform—you name it 06.07.2007
Everything Emits Radiation—Even You
The millirems pour in from bananas, bomb tests, the air, bedmates... 06.04.2007
The Ceaseless Buzzing of Kinetic Energy
If heat were visible, we’d see a lot of frenzied motion. 05.30.2007
Grace in Space
Satellites accurately track Earth's squishiness. 03.23.2007
World Versus the Volcano
Huge eruptions leave the world cold and hungry. 03.19.2007
The Top 8 Earth Science Stories of 2006
Global warming as hot topic, water worlds under Antarctic ice, King Tut's alien heat source, and more 12.27.2006
Earth's Big Balancing Act
Once, Alaska was near the equator. 11.17.2006
Meet the New Continent
In only a million years we'll have an eighth: East Africa. 10.31.2006
Swimming in the Sahara
The world's largest desert was once a green Eden. One day it will be again. 10.25.2006
Earth's Inner Fort Knox
Searching for a pot of gold? Try the center of the Earth. 09.01.2006
The Year in Science: Geology
01.08.2006
Discover Dialogue: Planetary Geologist H. Jay Melosh
Just about every atom on Earth has been through a hypervelocity impact. 07.24.2005
A Geologist in the Field - Part 2
06.16.2005
A Geologist in the Field
06.01.2005
Geology
01.02.2005
The Geology of . . . Rubies
A ruby's dazzling color masks the mysterious origins of its birth 11.25.2004
Geology
01.02.2004
Geology
Year In Science 01.13.2002
Victim of Geology
Whatever you do, don't get started on fossils 07.01.2001
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