The Watchers team and our contributors bring the latest on extreme weather, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, space weather, and all things science. We're all about making sense of the natural world and keeping you informed on what’s happening. Got a tip or a question? Hit us up using the form at newstips!
Today’s atmosphere likely bears little trace of its primordial self: Geochemical evidence suggests that Earth’s atmosphere may have been completely obliterated at least twice since its formation more than 4 billion years ago. However, it’s unclear what
The ramifications of the proposed route have environmentalists worried, and for good reason… When construction crews begin digging a new canal this month across Nicaragua, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic, it’ll be a boon to global shipping and, the governmen
A National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research team has successfully tested an autonomous underwater vehicle, AUV, that can produce high-resolution, three-dimensional maps of Antarctic sea ice. SeaBED, as the vehicle is known, measured and mapped the underside of s
Van Allen radiation belts have been found to contain a nearly impenetrable barrier that prevents the fastest, most energetic electrons from reaching Earth.The Van Allen belts are a collection of charged particles, gathered in place by Earth’s magnetic field. They
If you're someone who believes in personal (not government-provided) charity and who likes to make sure that as many homeless people as possible get a decent meal each day, good for you. But you might want to avoid Fort Lauderdale, Florida, because you could wind up
The relatives of Indian women who died following a state-operated mass sterilization campaign went terribly awry have told local media they were forced by government health workers to attend.As reported by Britain's The Guardian newspaper, more than 80 women recentl
Researchers are pointing to overpopulation and drought – two issues which are very familiar in today's world, especially in California – as the reasons for the collapse of the Assyrian Empire, which used to be a flourishing hub in the 7th century BC. The fall of the
The problem of a diminishing water supply is taking its toll on the residents of Brazil, pointing to the growing issue of a world that is running out of water and as a result, entering a global crisis which will likely have serious agricultural, social and economic cons
A massive bright orange flash has lit up the sky over Russia's Sverdlovsk region in the Urals on November 14, 2014 at 13:39 UTC (18:39 local time). Videos of this "mysterious" explosion, which happened close to last year's Chelyabinsk event, have surfa
Images from NASA's Dawn Mission have been used to create a series of high-resolution geological maps of the large asteroid Vesta, revealing the variety of surface features in unprecedented detail. These maps are included with a series of 11 scientific papers publish
