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'Cruelly hot': Japan devises new term for heat wave days

Blistering temperatures rising to 40°C and above will now be branded "cruelly hot" or "kokusho-bi" in Japan, the weather agency said Friday, as heat wave days become increasingly frequent in the region.

Navigating the past with ancient stone compass needles

Magnetic rocks with iron oxide concentrations act as natural chroniclers of Earth's past continental movements. Using small samples of rocks, scientists can isolate magnetic grains that were frozen in orientation as the rock ...

Massive Atlantic sargassum blooms traced to West Africa

Massive blooms of Sargassum seaweed that have inundated coastlines across the Atlantic since 2011 likely originate off the coast of West Africa—forming years before they are visible and overturning long-standing assumptions ...

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Novel technique drills more detail into ice core records
Earth Sciences
Extensive faults beneath Nevada nuclear lab raise unanswered earthquake risks
Earth Sciences
Waikīkī faces escalating threat of sewage-contaminated flooding as sea level rises
Earth Sciences
A hidden Oregon basin and a shallower slab sharpen the Cascadia megaquake threat
Environment
Industrial chemical leaks could push ozone layer recovery back by 7 years
Earth Sciences
Warmer winters and snow drought may threaten western US water by speeding flows
Earth Sciences
New metric identifies at-risk mangroves before they disappear
Earth Sciences
Simulations generate thousands of cyclone scenarios to predict extreme flooding in Bay of Bengal
Environment
A regulatory loophole could delay ozone recovery by years
Environment
Climate impact of bottom fishing depends on where and how the seabed is disturbed
Earth Sciences
Deep earthquakes triggered by the olivine-poirierite transition
Environment
Washington DC's 240 million‑gallon sewage spill is a symptom of nationwide trouble
Earth Sciences
LiDAR maps medieval castle terrain and flags landslide-prone slopes in Japan
Earth Sciences
Microscopic green pigment provides insights into how successive typhoons drive cumulative water and ecosystem changes
Environment
Global warming causes Colombian glacier to disappear
Earth Sciences
Combining seismic and space data to detect calving in Greenland glaciers
Environment
The 2040 milestones that Europe must meet to achieve climate-neutrality by 2050
Earth Sciences
Different interannual co-evolutionary models reveal how East Asia's jet stream and summer monsoon evolve together
Earth Sciences
This drone reveals what lies beneath snow and soil
Earth Sciences
Ancient Maya droughts may have been fueled by Earth's own climate swings

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Optics & Photonics
Bright quantum light emission achieved at room temperature in 2D semiconductors
Optics & Photonics
Flat optics move toward market with 300-per-second metalens production
Ecology
PFAS detected in dolphin milk may pass from mothers to calves
Plants & Animals
DNA cracks nutmeg's hidden past, revealing a South Moluccas origin and a prehuman journey north
Soft Matter
Quantum-informed AI improves long-term turbulence forecasts while using far less memory
Archaeology
First archaeological case of cleft lip identified in China reveals inclusive care in Qing dynasty community
Cell & Microbiology
Antioxidant glutathione discovered to play a key role in proper protein folding
Plants & Animals
Parrots are not just mimicking words—they use proper names like humans to identify individuals
Analytical Chemistry
Platinum-free catalyst splits hydrogen from water for energy, running 1,000 hours at industry standards
Ecology
Warmer streams may be draining river food webs by sending more carbon into the air
Bio & Medicine
Nanobody repairs misfolded CFTR inside cells, boosting function in cystic fibrosis
Plants & Animals
Want to restore oyster reefs? Find a site where they don't wash away or become buried under the sand
Biotechnology
Two bacteria join forces to turn chemical signals into electricity, opening up low-cost sensing options
Biotechnology
Shrink, remove and modify: Team successfully 'trims' wheat chromosomes
Bio & Medicine
Medicine's next leap: Delivering gene therapies exactly where they're needed
Plasma Physics
Researchers directly observe muonic molecules critical to muon catalyzed fusion
Planetary Sciences
Volunteers discover rare space weather events using their ears
Cell & Microbiology
AI-powered tool could speed treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacteria by pinpointing potent peptides
Biotechnology
Q&A: Will agentic AI replace human scientists?
Evolution
Saving coral reefs will require ruthless selection over generations to beat future heat waves

Why treelines don't simply rise with the climate

A global study by the University of Basel, Switzerland, reveals a surprising picture: While 42% of treelines worldwide are shifting upslope, 25% are retreating. This seemingly contradictory trend involves more than just warming. ...

Hidden ocean feedback loop could accelerate climate change

The world's oceans may be quietly amplifying climate change in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, University of Rochester scientists—including ...