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Sep 30, 2015

Everything's Bigger in Texas: Ancient Supersize Shark Fossils Unearthed

This story was updated Oct. 19 at 11:45 a.m. EDT. DALLAS — A mega shark that lived 300 million years ago would have made today's great whites look like shrimps, according to fossils of the beast unearthed in Jacksboro, Texas. Scientists have dubbed the newfound fossils the Texas supershark, and...

Sep 30, 2015

Underwater Fossil Graveyard Reveals Toll of Human-Caused Extinction

If humans had never set foot in the Bahamas, the islands today might be teeming with Cuban crocodiles, Albury's tortoises and rock iguanas. These creatures survived the thawing of the last ice age, but not the arrival of people, a new study finds. On Abaco Island, a graveyard of fossils...

Sep 30, 2015

Hurricane Patricia: How Big Can Tropical Cyclones Get?

Hurricane Patricia is currently churning in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and weather forecasters are calling it the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere. Communities in southern Mexico, where the hurricane is expected to make landfall later today (Oct. 23), are already preparing for a potentially catastrophic storm. But...

Sep 30, 2015

Bug-Eating Plant Uses Raindrops to Capture Prey

Carnivorous pitcher plants use falling raindrops to force prey to their doom, a new study finds. This finding suggests that pitcher plants are not merely motionless pitfall traps, but instead actively use rapid movements to ensnare their meals, the researchers said. All plants can move; — for instance, sunflowers on...

Sep 30, 2015

Rising Outdoor CO2 Levels Harming Life Indoors (Op-Ed)

Marlene Cimons is a Washington based freelance writer who specializes in science, health and the environment. Her work frequently appears in, among others, the Washington Post, Microbe Magazine, and Climate Progress. She also writes for Climate Nexus, a nonprofit that aims to tell the climate story in innovative ways that...

Sep 30, 2015

In Images: Stunning Flower Fields of the Atacama Desert

The normally barren, almost Martian landscape of the Atacama Desert recently erupted in flowers, painting the hillsides, blue, fuschia, orange and yellow. The almost magical transformation occurred thanks to heavy rains earlier in the year, which watered flower seeds that had lain dormant for years. One Twitter user, Tomás Cuadra...

Aug 31, 2015

California Faces Threat of Earthquake-Triggered Tsunamis

Californians may be used to hearing about the threat of potentially deadly earthquakes, but a new study finds that quake-triggered tsunamis pose a greater risk to Southern California than previously thought. Tsunamis are monster waves that can reach more than 100 feet (30 meters) high. They are often caused by...

Aug 31, 2015

Many Injuries in California's 2014 Quake Occurred During Cleanup

Many of the people who were injured from the 6.0-magnitude earthquake in Napa, California, last year were actually hurt during the cleanup effort, after the quake was over, according to a new study. The earthquake — which was the largest in the San Francisco Bay Area in 25 years —...

Aug 31, 2015

How Plastics-to-Fuel Can Become the Next Green Machine (Op-Ed)

Doug Woodring is director and co-founder of the Ocean Recovery Alliance, a nonprofit that brings together innovative solutions, technology, collaborations and policy to benefit ocean health. Steve Russell is vice president of the American Chemistry Council's Plastics Division, which leads efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle and recover more plastics through...

Jul 31, 2015

'Overshoot Day' 2015: Earth is Now Officially in the Red

Dave McLaughlin is vice president of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)'s Sustainable Food program. He contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Planet Earth is in the red. For the rest of the year, people will be writing checks our planet can't cash. Today is Earth...

Jul 31, 2015

Why California's Droughts are Just Going to Get Worse (Op-Ed)

Jeremy Proville, senior GIS specialist and economic analyst at Environmental Defense Fund, contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. California is now well into its fourth consecutive year of drought. This is not without consequences. Tensions in the state have mounted as urban and agricultural water...

Jul 31, 2015

Free Pass! National Parks Waive Admissions Fee on Tuesday

In celebration of its 99th birthday, the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) is providing free admission to all of its sites for one day next week. Next Tuesday (Aug. 25), people can visit any of the NPS' 408 sites across the country, including popular spots such as Joshua Tree National...

Jul 31, 2015

Fire Fountains of the Ancient Moon Explained

The ancient lunar surface once erupted with geysers of lava — and now, scientists think they know what caused those fiery fountains. Current research suggests that the moon formed when a Mars-size object barreled into Earth in the early solar system, and for a long time, its surface was much...

Jul 31, 2015

Unforgettable Images Capture Volcano Rumbling to Life

The towering volcano of Cotopaxi, which looms over Ecuador, recently began erupting. Photographers Jorge Castillo and Lucas Bustamante recently captured photos of the stunning ash plumes emerging from the volcano. The volcano has blanketed nearby towns and villages with a fine dusting of ash, as the locals wait to see...

Jul 31, 2015

Hurricane Katrina's Stark Changes Endure in Images from Space

Louisiana's dramatically enlarged lakes and inundated marshes — stark reminders of Hurricane Katrina’s ferocity 10 years ago — are prominent in a new satellite image. Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall along the Louisiana-Mississippi border as a Category 3 storm on Aug. 29, 2005, transformed the marshes that buffer New Orleans...