Earth Science

Of course you know what gravity is. It's the force behind Wile E. Coyote plummeting off the face of a cliff and you stumbling spastically in front of your crush. But did you know it can bend light and help us detect hidden cosmic phenomena, too?

By Robert Lamb

Crack open any science textbook and the authors will tell you that such things don't happen. So how did a couple of paleontologists and an acid bath turn that widespread belief on its head?

By Robert Lamb

The Pacific Ocean trash vortex is explained in this article. Learn about the Pacific Ocean trash vortex.

By Brian Merchant

You may have noticed that our planet isn't terribly predictable. Could a German polymath and an unfathomable pile of data change that?

By Robert Lamb

If geology has taught us anything about Earth's history, it's that nothing is permanent. And that goes for mountain ranges, all of which are constantly rising and falling.

By Mark Mancini

For centuries, ancient cultures celebrated the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, as the "day the sun came back." Here are five enlightening facts about the winter solstice.

By Kathryn Whitbourne

Scientists from The Ohio State University have drilled longest ice core from outside the poles.

By Mark Mancini

Although the trenched enclosures were probably used to conduct rituals, they can tell us how the ancient indigenous people of the Amazon managed their forests.

By Jesslyn Shields

The perfectly preserved remains of a 3,000-year-old settlement called Must Farm provide a window into the lives of the Bronze Age Britons.

By Jesslyn Shields

Ever wondered what's the difference between a river, a stream, a brook and a tributary?

By Amanda Onion

Ocean water is not actually blue, but appears in different shades for many reasons.

By Amanda Onion

The Sahara has expanded by about 10 percent in the past century, mostly due to natural causes, but not all. We can blame the rest on man-made climate change.

By Kristen Hall-Geisler

Climate change may be melting glaciers, but it's also reducing the oxygen of the world's oceans. Without oxygen, many marine organisms may no longer be able to survive.

By John Perritano

Talk about a Brexit! Scientists have clues to catastrophic flooding that destroyed a land bridge that once connected England and France.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Most mammals have a penis bone called a baculum, but humans don't. A new study sheds light on the history of the baculum, and why ours is missing.

By Jesslyn Shields

Science has determined that disappearing completely into quicksand isn't possible - but that doesn't mean that getting stuck still won't kill you.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Surprisingly, living in a city with a high level of natural radiation doesn't have any ill effects.

By Alia Hoyt

The circle is only 5,000 miles wide.

By Jesslyn Shields

The Denmark Strait cataract dwarfs every other waterfall in the world, but you can't see it because it's deep under the Atlantic Ocean.

By Jesslyn Shields

The Great Lakes are named so for several reasons. HowStuffWorks looks at why the Great Lakes are so great, including their impressive depths.

By Mark Mancini

Petrified wood can be found all over the world, but how is it created?

By Mark Mancini & Desiree Bowie

The spring, or vernal, equinox traditionally marks the first day of spring - but climate scientists use a different date altogether. Find out more about this and other facts about the spring equinox.

By Mark Mancini

Underwater icicles, also called brinicles or sea stalactites, form when super-cold brine meets normal seawater. The sub-zero phenomenon can kill some sea life.

By Patrick J. Kiger

The formidable gusher could stop flowing for a few months in 2019 in order to repair some bridges in dire need.

By Rachel Pendergrass

One term might give you the impression of something grand and mysterious, while the other makes you think of claustrophobia-inducing environs that threaten human life. But what's the real difference?

By Nathan Chandler