Environmental Science

In "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," Dr. Jones battles the Nazis for the Holy Grail. Did the Nazis really have an interest in archaeology? And if so, what fueled it?

By Charles W. Bryant

In "The Raiders of the Lost Ark," Indiana Jones competes with grave-robbing Nazis for the lost Ark of the Covenant. But what defined Dr. Jones as legit and the Nazis as grave robbers?

By Charles W. Bryant

Without its keystone, a Roman aqueduct collapses. Does the same travesty befall an ecosystem when a keystone species goes missing from the ecological equation?

By William Harris

Desalination has long been considered too expensive and too energy-intensive to make much sense. But with newer technologies, that line of thinking is changing. What are some of the most interesting desalination projects on the planet?

By Jessika Toothman

The ever-changing price of a barrel of oil has a lot to do with what we pay for gasoline at the pump. But do you know the four major factors that contribute to the price of oil?

By Patrick E. George

Could solar cells be the asphalt of the 21st century?

By Patrick E. George & Cherise Threewitt

We live in a universe of clocks. The technology may not sound as dependable as your cell phone alarm clock, but humans have turned to water-powered clocks for more than three and a half millennia.

By Robert Lamb

This ancient rock adorns King Tut's coffin and the Sistine Chapel. And at one time it was more precious than gold. What is it about this deep blue rock that has drawn us in for centuries?

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D. & Austin Henderson

There are caves all over the world, but some are in places that are hard to explore - hidden by rocks, ruins or even under ice. We've found seven secret caves you probably never knew existed.

By Stephanie Parker

Critics warn that cryptocurrency networks, whose computers use enormous amounts of electricity to verify transactions, could be a factor in warming the planet. The industry is working to change that.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Deep underneath Antarctica, there lies a hidden lake. Roughly the size of North America's Lake Ontario, the buried landmark has inspired curiosity and controversy for decades.

By Mark Mancini

It's possible that the giant, deadly serpent hanging out at the bottom of Fosse Dionne spring is just a legend, but divers have disappeared trying to find out, so who knows?

By Jesslyn Shields

Though a highly publicized 1989 cold fusion breakthrough was subsequently discredited, research is still being conducted in hopes of future success.

By Patrick J. Kiger

It's not just the size that differentiates a lake from a pond. The real distinctions flow much deeper.

By Sharise Cunningham

In the search for Cleopatra's tomb, a team of archaeologists was surprised by two mummies with gold foil-covered tongues. What was the reason for this strange burial custom?

By Jesslyn Shields

Only 25 percent of glass containers used by U.S. consumers were recycled in 2018, the most recent year for statistics. So, why aren't Americans doing better?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Move over corn and soybeans, there's a better biofuel in town. And this one grows in abundance at the bottom of the ocean.

By Diane Kim, Ignacio Navarrete & Jessica Dutton

Tanzanite is so rare, it is sourced from just an 8-square-mile (20-square-kilometer) area in Tanzania. It was first discovered in the late 1960s and it burst onto the jewelry scene thanks to Tiffany & Co.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D. & Austin Henderson

The Mohs hardness scale is used by geologists and gemologists as a way to help identify minerals using a hardness test. How does it work?

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

Not all deserts have sand and they're certainly not all hot. They're just extremely dry and have little vegetation. That means deserts are located all over the planet, including at super-high elevations.

By Sharise Cunningham

The Southern Ocean has finally been officially recognized, though scientists have known about it for over a century.

By Jesslyn Shields

Not all diamonds are found on dry land. Many turn up in sediments below the ocean's surface. You just have to know where to look.

By Mark Mancini

Researchers have been asking this question for almost a century and now we're a little closer to the answer. Something else to ponder: Every 27.5 million years there is usually a mass extinction.

By Valerie Stimac

This beautiful pink quartz is found in numerous places throughout the world and is thought to be associated with unconditional love.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, plays an essential role in regulating ocean temperatures, but it looks as if it may be collapsing. What happens next?

By Joanna Thompson