Science

The Docile Squid is not a Kraken
Deep in the depths of the ocean is a giant squid. This squid had people creating lore that a giant kraken would rise it's tentacles and take a boat under. This seems to be because of how scary they seem when washed up huge onto the shore when they have passed away. This is the only way anyone has seen them besides pictures because they don't bother coming up towards the surface otherwise.
By Seashell Harpspring 14 days ago in Earth
The Mountain Has No Reservoir. So Why Did I Keep Expecting the Stream to Run?
The question begins with a clause that is not true for most small mountain channels. Many streams do not run all year. When water is there, people call it a stream. When it is gone, they call it a gully. The same channel changes name, and the dry months disappear from memory.
By Jin15 days ago in Earth
The Rhythm of Zero Road: Sweat, Lactic Acid, and Late-Autumn Leaves
Cadence and Fallen Leaves on Zero Road Zero Road in Jiangbei. Drawing a line on the map takes two seconds. Zipping up my running shoes, pulling the laces tight. I hesitate. I leave the water behind. I head out. The wind hits my face directly, carrying the dry air of early autumn evenings. The sudden drop in temperature makes my skin tighten.
By Jin16 days ago in Earth
How a Small Fire Became a Forest’s Reckoning
Before The Flames That small spark which patiently waits for the precise moment when the three key parts of the ‘fire triangle’ (fuel, heat, and oxygen) come together, as demonstrated below:
By Jonathan Townend17 days ago in Earth
The Strongest El Niño Ever Recorded Is Forming. Here's What It Could Do to the Planet.
Super El Niño: data, impacts, and the response already underway 1. Confirmation: peak points to late 2026 In September 2026, sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific are still rising.
By Jin17 days ago in Earth
Why Activist-Run Sea Sanctuaries Aren’t Automatically the Answer For Captive Whales
The latest loss of multiple belugas that had been relocated from the former Marineland Canada site is genuinely heartbreaking.
By Jenna Deedy18 days ago in Earth
The Silent Signals of a Failing Tree: How to Read the Warning Signs Before the Storm
Late last summer, while mowing the lawn, I stopped to look up at a mature oak shading our back patio. A major upper branch extending toward the roofline looked surprisingly bare for mid-August. Down along the fence line, a row of arborvitae was turning a dull, rusty brown instead of holding its usual deep green. Looking a bit closer at the oak's main trunk, I noticed a thin vertical split running through the bark that definitely had not been there the previous fall.
By ORB Tree Service Marketing18 days ago in Earth
I Write About Climate Doom for a Living. Here’s What Kept Me Going in 2026.
2026, Earth Is Still Breathing At seven in the morning, he opened his phone. Heat warning. Wildfires. A country withdraws from a climate agreement. He put the phone face down on the table and went to pour water. The water overflowed and scalded his hand.
By Jin20 days ago in Earth
The "Wife-Stealing" Festival Is Not What You Think
The Gerewol Festival: A Photograph, a Headline, and the Women Who Choose In July 2015, a photographer in In-Gall, Niger, took a picture of dozens of Wodaabe men standing in a line. Their faces were covered in red ochre, their eyes outlined in black, their lips painted with a pigment made from burnt egret bone. White ostrich feathers rose from their hair. A British tabloid ran the photo under the headline "The Wife-Stealing Festival." Three days later, Chinese websites picked it up. The comments were about the makeup. Nobody asked why the men were wearing it.
By Jin21 days ago in Earth
He Reported His Employer for Unsafe Dust. Then the Government Fined Him.
1. The fine On March 3, 2026, Li Weizhi received a 50,000 yuan fine. The reason was the harm done to him. The Wuhua District Health Bureau said Li violated Article 31 of the Occupational Disease Prevention and Control Law. He accepted work that produces occupational disease hazards, stone countertop installation, without protection. That was the harm. The fine punished him for being the person harmed.
By Jin21 days ago in Earth
From Hydrogen to Life: The Story of Matter
• • • We left off with a universe of stars, elements, and increasingly complex molecules forming on the surfaces of young planets. The process had already demonstrated a clear direction, from simple toward complex, from formless toward structured. But the most extraordinary chapter was still ahead.
By Han Elucidation23 days ago in Earth
Feels Like
Someone lower the broiler heat; we are starting to burn. It’s the 187th day of August here in Kansas. Yes, you read it correctly. If the temperatures are in “feels like” terms, so are the days in this month. Each day with these temperatures feels like a month on its own. We are cooking here, and it’s not steaks. Well, not the bovine steaks, anyway. I do feel like an overcooked sirloin. Does anyone have any gravy?
By Alexandra Grant24 days ago in Earth