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!
A decades-old puzzle about a fog of low-energy X-rays observed over the entire sky was recently resolved. Thanks to refurbished detectors first flown on a NASA sounding rocket in the 1970s, astronomers have now confirmed the long-held suspicion that much of this glow st
During the second week of August, the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year will face off against everyone's favorite meteor shower – Perseids – and the outcome could be beautiful.On August 10, 2014, just as the Perseids are set to peak, the Moon wil
In the previous Space News, we discussed astronomer's recent admission that they now need a whole new theory to explain about how planets form. Today yet another discovery has shattered conventional ideas about planet formation and the so-called early solar system.
A new discovery of two additional coral communities showing signs of damage from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill expands the impact footprint of the 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The discovery was made by a team led by Charles Fisher, professor of biology at
Experts are warning that the planned construction of 88 hydroelectric dams in the lower Mekong basin by 2030 will cause food security challenges in Cambodia. Up to 80 percent of population might be affected.“Cambodia is going to pay the highest price for dam devel
There has been record growth in sales of organic, non-GMO food in some of the world's largest produce markets, a good thing for consumers and advocates of clean, wholesome, non-bioengineered commodities.In the United States, the value of the organic foods market in
Dwardu Cardona showed that a reconstruction of Earth’s cosmic history can be distilled from the universal “mytho-historical record,” complemented by studies in earth history and space science. Most recently, the strongest scientific validation comes fr
As Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring heads toward a close flyby of Mars on October 19, 2014, NASA and ESA are both taking steps to protect their Mars orbiters, while still preserving opportunities to gather valuable scientific data. Six days after p
Hundreds of fires covered central Africa in mid-July 2014, as the annual fire season continues across the region. Multiple red hotspots, which indicate areas of increased temperatures, are heavily sprinkled across the Congo (northwest), Angola (south), the Democrat
An international team of scientists warns that loss and decline of animals is contributing to what appears to be the early days of the planet's sixth mass biological extinction event. The planet's current biodiversity, they claim, is the highest in history of li
