Climate change could raise food insecurity risk
Weather extremes caused by climate change could raise the risk of food shortages in many countries, new research suggests.
Did water-based life originate without water?
When trying to understand the origins of life on Earth, researchers run into a paradox: while water is an indispensable solvent for all known life forms that exist today, water also inhibits the formation of string-like chains ...
A simpler way to estimate the feedback between permafrost carbon and climate
One of the big unknowns in predicting climate change is the billions of tons of carbon frozen in Arctic permafrost. As global warming causes soil temperatures to increase, some of this carbon will decompose and enter the ...
Researchers hone technique for finding signs of life on Mars
For centuries, people have imagined the possibility of life on Mars. But long-held dreams that Martians could be invaders of Earth, or little green men, or civilized superbeings, all have been undercut by missions to our ...
Want to 'see' climate change? Check your thermometer
Scientists often use satellites, supercomputers or high-tech arrays of instruments to show how the climate is changing.
Rise and fall of agrarian states influenced by climate volatility
Climate variability is one of the major forces in the rise and fall of agrarian states in Mexico and Peru, according to a team of researchers looking at both climate and archaeological records.
Are we wiser about tsunamis? Expert says yes and no
The world may not be well prepared for the next significant tsunami, reports Northwestern University tsunami expert Emile A. Okal in a new study that includes a "wisdom index" for 17 tsunamis since 2004.
Meteorites brought water to Earth during the first two million years
A new study of a rare basaltic meteorites called angrites suggests that volatiles, which are elements with relatively low boiling points such as water, could have been brought to our planet by meteorites during the first ...
The astonishing efficiency of life
All life on earth performs computations – and all computations require energy. From single-celled amoeba to multicellular organisms like humans, one of the most basic biological computations common across life is translation: ...
New paper answers causation conundrum
In a new paper published in a special issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, SFI Professor Jessica Flack offers a practical answer to one of the most significant, and most confused questions in evolutionary ...