So About That Asteroid That Could Hit Earth ...
Even the smallest odds of an impact sound alarming, but scientists’ ability to calculate them is actually good news.
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Illustration by The Atlantic. Source: Angel_nt / Getty. A Harmless Volcanic Eruption Has Its Charms
Kilauea’s eruption last week was a chance to appreciate Earth’s most powerful forces.
N. Deligne / USGS The Mystery of Greenland’s Nine-Day Tremor
It took only a year and 68 scientists to finally figure out what happened.
The Atlantic. Sources: Getty; Jane Rix / Alamy. Earthquakes Are a Special Kind of Nightmare
Morocco is facing the particular trauma that comes from watching the world around you crumble in an instant.
Alejandro Martinez Velez / Anadolu Agency / Getty Earthquakes Are Unlike Any Other Environmental Disaster
Hurricanes and volcanic eruptions can be predicted. But earthquakes always come as ambushes.
ILYAS AKENGIN / AFP / Getty The Volcanologist’s Paradox
Studying powerful eruptions means witnessing beauty and tragedy in the same moment.
Emily Mason / USGS A Portal to Mars on the Tip of Iceland
A volcano erupting on the island is a living replica of what once happened on Mars.
Mars Doesn’t Look So Dead After All
New discoveries have raised the possibility that the planet’s volcanoes, long assumed dormant, may still be active.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona What Happens If a ‘Big One’ Strikes During the Pandemic?
Hundreds of preexisting plans deal with individual natural-disaster scenarios. But these plans haven’t accounted for COVID-19 happening at the same time.
Maxwell Burnstein Why the Search for Dark Matter Depends on Ancient Shipwrecks
Errant particles from everyday radioactive materials are a major obstacle for particle physicists. The solution? Lead from the bottom of the sea.
Cigdem Sean Cooper / Getty
