Science

Wondering why the aurora borealis was visible so far south last night? Here’s why it’s all thanks to the sun

By Amoré Elsje Nel, The Conversation

During the peak of the cycle, called solar maximum, more sunspots and solar flares occur, increasing the likelihood of solar storms.

Winner of Nobel Prize in chemistry describes how his work could transform lives

By Amna Nawaz

The Nobel Prize in chemistry went to three scientists for groundbreaking work using artificial intelligence to advance biomedical and protein research. AlphaFold uses databases of protein structures and sequences to predict and even design protein structures. It speeds up a…

Continue watching

When hurricanes hit, flooded industrial sites and chemical releases are a silent, toxic threat

By James R. Elliott, Dominic Boyer, Phylicia Lee Brown, The Conversation

Hundreds of industrial facilities with toxic pollutants are in Hurricane Milton’s path as it heads toward Florida, less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene flooded communities across the Southeast.

‘Fat Bear’ champ Grazer beats Chunk, the behemoth that killed her cub

By Mark Thiessen, Associated Press

In a storyline better befitting a melodrama than a popularity vote, Grazer won her second Fat Bear Contest Tuesday.

What the Waffle House Index says about Hurricane Milton

By Hannah Schoenbaum, Associated Press

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida communities still recovering from Helene, many Waffle House locations along the Gulf Coast, including those in Tampa, Cape Coral and St. Petersburg, have closed in preparation.

Helene’s deadly rain and wind got a boost from climate change, flash study finds

By Alexa St. John, Associated Press

The warming climate boosted Helene's wind speeds by about 13 miles per hour, and made the high sea temperatures that fueled the storm 200 to 500 times more likely, World Weather Attribution calculated Wednesday from Europe.

Hurricane Milton revs back up to Category 5 storm

By Associated Press

Milton had previously weakened to a Category 4 storm, but its wind speeds have increased once again past the Category 5 threshold.

‘If meteorologists could stop hurricanes, we would.’ Here’s why humans still can’t control the weather

By Melina Walling, Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

Scientists say hurricanes are far too powerful for humans to try and control their paths — and climate change is providing more fuel than ever for storms like Helene and Milton.

What makes Tampa especially vulnerable to hurricanes right now

By Terry Spencer, Associated Press

It's among the fastest-growing metropolises in the United States, with more than 3 million people, and highly vulnerable to flooding due to climate change.