Some thunderstorms suddenly grow very strong, while others simply fizzle out. Predicting where this will happen has long been extremely difficult. Now researchers present a physical explanation for why thunderstorms intensify at certain locations, based on an analysis of 2.2 million storm events in Africa. The key lies in the interaction between soil moisture patterns and wind conditions in the atmosphere.

A research team led by University of Tsukuba has developed a new method to estimate long-term debris supply from steep slopes by measuring debris accumulated on decades-old abandoned roads using a drone equipped with LiDAR. This approach provides a practical means of quantifying debris input to debris-flow source areas.

New research published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin reveals how  fluids naturally carbonate ultramafic rocks formed within Oman’s Samail Ophiolite, providing new insight into tectonic processes and natural carbon sequestration.

Based only on jawbones, scientists have described a new salamander-like animal that would have been a “living fossil” for its time, 275 million years ago when it lived. What’s more, the jawbones were oddly twisted, with some teeth pointed out and to the sides, and numerous smaller teeth lining the inside of the jaws, kind of like a cheese grater—a sign that these strange creatures were among the first of their kind to grind up plants for food.

Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego has received a $15 million grant from the Fund for Science and Technology (FFST). This support will expand observational capabilities into parts of the ocean where data has historically been sparse or nonexistent.

A new scientific study led by paleontologist Stephen Chester, an Anthropology professor at the CUNY Graduate Center and Brooklyn College, is shedding fresh light on how the earliest known primate relatives evolved and spread across North America after the extinction of the dinosaurs.

A new peer-reviewed study examining regional snow cover trends across the Northern Hemisphere suggests shrinking snow coverage and seasonal shifts in when the wintry layer comes and goes.