Some of the most stunning and spectacular sites on the planet are waterfalls. Not only are they beautiful, but these natural water breaks can have cultural significance, help shape landscapes, create microclimates, and even be used as a source of hydroelectricity. The tallest waterfalls on the planet can reach heights of over 1,000 feet, with millions of gallons of water spilling over them. And while the tallest waterfall on land is Angel Falls in Venezuela, which stands at 3,212 feet tall, the ...read more

Whooping cough cases are increasing in the United States, having hit their highest point in a decade, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Based on the data, there were around 32,000 cases of whooping cough in the U.S. by mid-December in 2024, but around 6,000 cases by mid-December in 2023. There were also more cases of whooping cough in 2024 than in any other year since 2014 (and more cases than in all of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 combine ...read more

Back in 1998, astronomers made a curious discovery. By studying the behavior of distant supernovas, they concluded that the universe is not just expanding, but that this expansion is accelerating. The cosmos, they concluded, is exploding. The discovery rocked cosmology. It implied that the universe would probably experience a long cold death as its components raced inexorably away from each other. It also raised the question of what was causing this acceleration. Cosmologists eventually decided ...read more

The current eruption at Kīlauea in Hawai'i that started just before Christmas is still rolling along. The activity from the major vents on the edge of the Halema'uma'u crater has waxed and waned some, but lava fountains reaching tens of meters (hundreds of feet) have been common for the past week. The USGS Hawaii Volcano Observatory reports that lava from this eruption has covered two-thirds of the caldera floor. An overflight of the volcano on December 27 showed the extent of the new, dark, bl ...read more

In 2024, space exploration dazzled the world.NASA’s Europa Clipper began its journey to study Jupiter’s moon Europa. SpaceX’s Starship achieved its first successful landing, which is a critical milestone for future deep space missions. China made headlines with the Chang’e 6 mission, which successfully returned samples from the far side of the Moon. Meanwhile, the International Space Station continued to host international crews, including private missions like Axiom Mission 3.As an aero ...read more

When I conceived the idea for this column in 2013, I came up with the name "ImaGeo" as a mashup of "image" and "geo" — as in "images of Earth." (The mashup also hinted at "imagination.")Since then, I've tried whenever possible to emphasize images of Earth from space, as well as imagery created with data from other kinds of sensors. With that original ImaGeo theme in mind as 2024 was drawing to a close, I thought I would pick a selection of compelling images that helped me tell the stories of n ...read more

Lining grocery store shelves are supplements like omega fish oil, goat’s rue and others that sound more like the ingredients of a witch’s cauldron. Social media influencers also push high-tech sounding pills like CoQ10 or plant sterols to their followers. And you can find the classic supplements online or in person — vitamin D, vitamin C or a daily multivitamin.In the United States, the supplement market was estimated to be worth $42.6 billion in 2022, and it was projected to increase up t ...read more

At one time, the world of non-alcoholic drinks was limited to a few dusty old cans of O’Doul’s sitting in the back fridge of your local bar.But more recently, the genre has exploded. Craft beer companies are bending the basic tenets of chemistry in an effort to make non-alcoholic IPAs, stouts, and other styles that more closely resemble their boozy cousins.And restaurants are crafting mocktails that focus on flavor specifically tailored to a lack of alcohol. All of this comes at a time when ...read more

Is it a fish? Is it a sea monster? Is it Cthulhu?In 1997, while using underwater microphones to monitor volcanic activity in the depths of the southern Pacific Ocean, researchers with NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) recorded a mysterious sound. It was extremely loud and, well, weird. The fact that no one, including NOAA, had any idea what was making the noise fed theories like the ones above. The sound came to be called “the bloop” and remained a mystery for more than ...read more

Solar calendar. Place of worship. UFO Landing site. Many uses have been theorized for Stonehenge. Researchers have now added another: monument to unity, they propose in an Archaeology International article.Because the stones making up different aspects of the mysterious structure were moved from many parts of the British Isles, there must have been a reason for it. After all, it’s not the only henge in town. Hundreds of other stone circles have been found in Britain. But almost all of them hav ...read more