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Slag heaps in Lens, France Caroline Vancoillie/Alamy Almost 20 years ago, New Scientist ran a feature called “Imagine Earth without people”, a thought experiment about what would happen to our planet over thousands of years if humanity suddenly disappeared. It was an entertaining way to discuss all the impacts our species has had on the … Read more
Satellite image of the subglacial lake region after the outburst flood occurred, showing the fracturing of the ice sheet 10.1038/s41561-025-01746-9 As Greenland’s glaciers melt, water usually drains to the bedrock below before flowing out to the ocean. But in 2014, a huge torrent of meltwater from a subglacial lake burst out of the surface of … Read more
Lightning flashes during a monsoon storm in the US Edward Mitchell/World Meteorological Organization (WMO) A lightning “mega-flash” over the US Great Plains region stretching 829 kilometres, or around 515 miles, has been identified as the longest on record. The flash spanned five states, ranging from eastern Texas to Missouri. Such mega-flashes – extremely long-lasting or … Read more
The coastline of Shiogama, Japan as a tsunami warning had been issued after a huge earthquake Asahi Shimbun via Getty Images Millions of people were safely evacuated due to tsunami warnings rapidly issued after a powerful earthquake rumbled off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula on 29 July. Though the quake didn’t end up generating … Read more
In Antarctica, two giant rifts, known as Chasm 1 and Halloween Crack, split across the Brunt Ice Shelf. The implications of the cracks are huge as ice shelves hold back huge volumes of landlocked water, regulating its entry into the oceans surrounding Antarctica. But as global warming increases, so too does the likelihood of cracks, … Read more
Microbes might find energy in surprisingly inhospitable places Public domain sourced / access rights from The Book Worm / Alamy Rocks fractured by earthquakes could unlock a wide menu of chemical energy sources for microbes living deep underground – and similar processes could potentially support microbes within other planets. “This opens up a whole new … Read more