Fire and destruction at Europe's biggest sand dune

In a usual July on Europe's biggest sand dune, holidaymakers clamber to its peak to admire the panoramic views of the Atlantic Ocean beyond. This year, its heights are deserted, shrouded in smoke, with fire service planes ...

Curiosity captures stunning views of a changing Mars landscape

For the past year, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has been traveling through a transition zone from a clay-rich region to one filled with a salty mineral called sulfate. While the science team targeted the clay-rich region and ...

A new explanation for why Jupiter's moon has splendid dunes

Scientists have long wondered how Jupiter's innermost moon, Io, has meandering ridges as grand as any that can be seen in movies like "Dune." Now, a Rutgers research study has provided a new explanation of how dunes can form ...

Deserts 'breathe' water vapor, study shows

Deserts may seem lifeless and inert, but they are very much alive. Sand dunes, in particular, grow and moveā€”and according to a decades long research project, they also breathe humid air.

Biological crusts affected by drought can still stabilize soils

Biological soil crusts are communities of cyanobacteria, fungi, lichens, and other living organisms that can bind grains together and reduce the susceptibility of soils to erosion by water or wind. Crusts dominated by cyanobacteria, ...

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