Super-puff planets almost shouldn't exist, seeming at first to defy the rules of gas giant formation. But like the unlikely planets themselves, "our explanations are actually holding together," one astrophysicist told me. Read on at @nytimes.com: www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/s...

Rare Pair of Improbably Light ‘Super-Puff’ Planets Is Discovered (Gift Article)

They’re less dense than cotton candy, and they will help astrophysicists better understand the most unusual ways giant planets can form.

nytimes.com

Scientists have found sugar in the space between stars, providing tantalizing clues into how life may have arisen on Earth. The discovery eluded scientists for decades. So I asked what's obviously the most important question: What does it taste like? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/s...

A Sweet Surprise: Scientists Find Sugar Deep in Our Galaxy (Gift Article)

It’s the first time a sugar molecule has been detected in interstellar space. The discovery provides tantalizing new clues into how life may have arisen on Earth.

nytimes.com

Friendly reminder: you can watch the live feed of seismometers that detect shaking at the stadium in Seattle where the US is playing Belgium! ⚽️📈 pnsn.org/experiment/2...

USA vs Belgium - R16 Knockout - PNSN.org

Experiment event details for USA vs Belgium - R16 Knockout

pnsn.org

Pacific Northwest Seismic Network@pnsn1.bsky.social · 4w ago

Doing a vibe check and making sure everything is ready for the USA vs Belgium match at Seattle Stadium. Vibes are immaculate and everything is ready to rock! Check out all the action on pnsn.org here: buff.ly/BEJqFSa #SportsSeismology #WorldCup2026

Compared to the 1980s, California condors are thriving, but their numbers are still struggling: Without human-reared additions, their population would be shrinking. Lead is largely to blame, despite California's ban on lead-based ammo, a new study found. www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/arti...

California’s endangered condors have a surprising new foe

Researchers couldn’t figure out why the birds were dying — then they turned up an unusual suspect.

nationalgeographic.com

Size isn't everything when it comes to wildfire. In 2025, the global area burned by wildfires was the second-smallest in modern records. But it was the costliest fire year, mostly due to the Los Angeles fires, a new study says. Gift 🔗 to the @nytimes.com story: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/31/c...

2025 Wildfires Were the Costliest Ever, Researchers Say

nytimes.com

Last year, more than 600 dams—unwanted, unused or dangerous—were removed across Europe. The European Union set a goal of having 25,000 kilometers of free-flowing rivers by 2030, and dam removals are key to hitting that target. But they can be contentious. www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/...

Why Europe wants to tear down thousands of its dams

The continent has a growing movement to remove old and unnecessary dams to improve river health and save species. It comes as pressure on Europe’s water resources strengthens.

nationalgeographic.com

For the @nytimes.com, I wrote about the threat of tsunamis on the West Coast and the lack of evacuation structures. These expensive but life-saving buildings could help tribes and other coastal communities stay in place. But the US has only a handful. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/r...

These Towns Want a Tsunami Shelter Before It’s Too Late

nytimes.com

The Seattle fault zone runs right under its namesake city. In 923, it ruptured catastrophically. The threat of a repeat event on the main fault is still there. But two new studies show that smaller—but still damaging—quakes from shorter faults in the system are more likely. eos.org/articles/on-...

On the Seattle Fault, the Biggest Quakes Aren’t the Most Likely - Eos

Smaller quakes from secondary faults—which are not included in national seismic hazard modeling—occur more frequently than previously thought.

eos.org

Much of the West Coast and Hawaii faces some degree of tsunami risk. But if communities lack high ground to flee to before the waves hit, they really have one option: build up. Tsunami shelters are ubiquitous in tsunami-prone Japan, but the US has only a handful. 🎁🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/r...

These Towns Want a Tsunami Shelter Before It’s Too Late

nytimes.com

Dice games have been a key tool for social cohesion for many Native American cultures for thousands of years, as oral traditions, modern practices and archaeology reflect. The oldest documented dice are 12,000 years old and from the western US, a study finds. www.sciencenews.org/article/olde...

The oldest known dice in the world are roughly 12,000 years old

A study of ancient artifacts suggests Native American dice games began thousands of years earlier than previously documented.

sciencenews.org

I wrote about the history of wine grapes last week for @nytimes.com, but we didn't have room to get into the climate of it all. In our wines, which do we value more: the past or the future? 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/s...

Ancient Grapes Reveal Long History of Modern Wines

nytimes.com

We humans have been drinking wine for thousands of years. It's recorded in ancient Egyptian paintings, Roman frescoes and Georgian wine jugs. But how have wines, and the grapes that make them, changed over time? DNA preserved in ancient grapes holds the clues. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/s...

Ancient Grapes Reveal Long History of Modern Wines

nytimes.com

Wildfire seasons around the world are starting to overlap, with fire-friendly weather hitting more frequently. That convergence of wildfire timing could soon hamper the world's ability to share crucial firefighting resources. Within the U.S., it's already a reality. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/c...

Wildfire Seasons Are Starting to Overlap. That Spells Trouble for Firefighting.

nytimes.com

For some butterflies, only those with a sense of rhythm can survive. That's because they need to be adopted by ant colonies as caterpillars to make in. Caterpillars mimic ants' sounds to get carried inside, and a new study explores rhythm's role in that. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/s...

The Password That Lets Caterpillars Hide in an Ant’s Lair

nytimes.com

It's hard to think about things that aren't politics in the U.S. right now, but for a bit of good news distraction: polar bears in Svalbard are fatter than scientists expected, suggesting they're coping with dramatic sea ice loss — for now. www.sciencenews.org/article/pola...

Polar bears in the Barents Sea are staying fat despite rapid sea ice loss

Polar bears can struggle to adapt to climate change. Bears on Svalbard may be surviving on land prey and seals — but scientists warn it may not last.

sciencenews.org

A handful of intrepid cattle ranchers in Wyoming are testing out new tech that could help make ranches a little more conservation-friendly: virtual fences. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/c...

Wyoming Cowboys Are Breaking Down Barriers, Literally

nytimes.com

Read this investigation into CA's child labor: A "climate of fear has made families more reluctant than ever to complain about unsafe working conditions, concerned that employers will retaliate. Even so, young people continue to work to help their parents pay bills and put food on the table."

Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · 9mo ago

Lax oversight, few inspections leave child farmworkers exposed to toxic pesticides

The ant queen is dead. Long live the queen! Some parasitic ant queens can sneak into other species' colonies and douse the true queen in an acid that compels the workers—her daughters—to turn against her. After the workers kill their queen, the usurper swoops in. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/s...

Parasitic Queen: Now She’s Stealing an Ant Fief

nytimes.com

Today in fish news: After more than 100 years away, salmon are back in the headwaters of the Klamath River. At least 140 Chinook adults are spawning, and more are coming. But there's restoration work still to do. Some federal funding for it is delayed. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/c...

A River Restoration in Oregon Gets Fast Results: The Salmon Swam Right Back

nytimes.com

A new study argues that in the past, Cascadia quakes have triggered the San Andreas to go off, and that it could happen again. But other experts, while recognizing that may technically be possible, want more evidence. Read more at NatGeo: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

How ‘the big one’ near Seattle could trigger an earthquake in San Francisco

Are two of the deadliest earthquake zones in North America linked? It's possible—but controversial.

nationalgeographic.com

The @nytimes.com climate section is profiling federal scientists who have been terminated and their work. I spoke with tsunami expert Corina Allen, who worked to ensure tsunami alerts made it to the public. She was fired in February. Read her story and others': www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/c...

She Made Sure That Tsunami Warnings Reached the Public

nytimes.com

This is one of my favorite stories I've gotten to write. And it's that time of year again, when the skies in northwestern Washington are painted with squiggly black Vs of snow geese looking for a snack bar to settle down at for the winter. Just don't get hit by poop when you're looking up at them!

bioGraphic@biographic.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Us, peering out the window: "Look, sire. The snow geese are on the move." In honor of fall migration, we're reupping this gorgeous photo essay, with words by @rdzombak.bsky.social, about how Washington state is handling too much of a good thing. 🐦

Economy or environment? That's the question that plagues public land managers, and Washington's forests are not immune. 77,000 acres of ecologically important stands will be conserved, but some worry rural schools will lose out. For @highcountrynews.org: www.hcn.org/articles/was...

Washington moves to conserve its state forests - High Country News

The proposal would protect 77,000 acres of ‘structurally complex’ forests.

hcn.org

A wildfire has been burning in the Olympic Peninsula for a month, growing to more than 5,100 acres at just 3% containment. Washington state is working to raise awareness of fire risk in its wet, forested environs and developing a plan to best fight fires here. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/c...

Washington State Braces for ‘Inevitable’ Megafire. Climate Change May Bring It Sooner.

nytimes.com

Climate change is whipping up worse fire weather and more severe fire seasons. Longer hot dry spells mean drought-stricken soils and crispy vegetation, and when the winds shift and something sparks—wildfire. In 2023 and 2024, forests were hit hard, two studies show. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/21/c...

Climate Change Is Making Fire Weather Worse for World’s Forests

nytimes.com

NOAA's network of climate monitoring stations and sample collectors is the backbone of tracking global climate change. Trump's proposed budget would shut it down. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/c...

After 7 Decades of Measurements From a Peak in Hawaii, Trump’s Budget Would End Them

nytimes.com

Today NASA backtracked on its statement earlier this month that the National Climate Assessments would be hosted on their website. “NASA has no legal obligations to host globalchange.gov’s data,” a spokeswoman said today. “We never did and will not host the data.”www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/c...re

NASA Website Will Not Provide Previous National Climate Reports

nytimes.com

The Trump administration's proposed budget would slash NOAA's climate research funds. It still has to pass Congress, but it's already affecting scientists. A program supporting promising new climate scientists furloughed its current cohort and canceled 2025 awards. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/c...

Recipients of a U.S. Climate Science Fellowship Are Put on Unpaid Leave

nytimes.com

The levees that protect New Orleans from storm surges are sinking. It's built into their design: they're big and heavy and basically built on mud. But in some spots, they're sinking faster than expected. A new study shows where and how fast it's happening. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/07/c...

Map of New Orleans Highlights Sinking and Stable City Spots

nytimes.com

Three DoD/NOAA satellites that help scientists track sea ice (and hurricanes) are slated to cease providing their data at the end of July due to "cybersecurity concerns." www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/c...

Data Crucial to Hurricane Forecasts Will Continue, but for One Month Only

nytimes.com

Zack Labe@zacklabe.com · last yr.

🚨 Monday ice update - #Arctic sea ice extent is currently the *lowest* on record (JAXA data) • about 460,000 km² below the 2010s mean • about 1,210,000 km² below the 2000s mean • about 1,880,000 km² below the 1990s mean • about 2,550,000 km² below the 1980s mean More: zacklabe.com/arctic-sea-i...