Dust creates deserts in the sky

The first of two parts on the impacts of intercontinental plumes of dust.

A line of four trucks meandered left and right as they steered around sand dunes in a remote part of North Africa. Their engines whined a ... Read more »

Snakes go dark to soak in the sun

PHOENIX, Ariz. — In the southern United States, snakes can be vibrant and bright. In the North, they tend to be dark and drab. A dark coat may seem a bit depressing. It may, however, help northern snakes soak up heat from the sun more quickly than their southern kin, a teen finds. And a quick solar heating could prove an advantage in colder climes.

The center of Earth is younger than the outer surface

Our home planet is young at heart. According to new calculations, Earth’s center is more than two years younger than its surface.

In Einstein’s general theory of relativity, massive ... Read more »