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Earth Science

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 25-Apr-2026 06:15 ET (25-Apr-2026 10:15 GMT/UTC)

Young shark species more vulnerable to extinction

University of Zurich
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Among sharks and rays, species within the first four million years of existence are significantly more likely to go extinct than older species, according to a study led by researchers from the University of Zurich based on fossils from the last 145 million years. This shows that in addition to environmental stressors, the evolutionary age of species also plays a crucial role in their survival.

Paleontologists find first fossil bee nests made inside fossil bones

Florida Museum of Natural History
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Paleontologists working in a cave on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola have discovered the first-known instance of ancient bees nesting inside pre-existing fossil cavities.

Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences

These fossils were the perfect home for ancient baby bees

Field Museum
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Fossils of animal bones found in a cave contained dirt and sediment in their empty tooth sockets. A scientist realized that it wasn't just dirt-- he'd stumbled across the preserved nests of prehistoric bees that had laid their eggs in these bones. This is the first time that bees have been known to use bones or fossils as nests.

Journal: Royal Society Open Science

Study links seabird nesting to shark turf wars in Hawai‘i

University of Hawaii at Manoa
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study reveals a critical link between seasonal seabird nesting and the movements of top marine predators in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The research found that the annual summer arrival of fledgling seabirds at French Frigate Shoals concentrates tiger sharks in specific areas, forcing other species, including gray reef and Galapagos sharks, to drastically shift their own habitat use to avoid predation and competition.

Journal: Ecosphere
Funder: National Marine Sanctuary Program

Study finds ocean sediments are key to survival of northeastern US salt marshes

University of Massachusetts Amherst
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Salt marshes, those critical habitats that protect coastal towns from flooding, store massive amounts of blue carbon, support fisheries and play a key role in ecological resilience, are struggling to survive as oceans rise due to climate change. A new study led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Massachusetts Geological Survey reveals a previously undiscovered source of the sediments that are key to the salt marshes’ survival: the ocean. The research, published recently in Geophysical Research Letters, relies on an innovative method of working with satellite data to see a process that has been hitherto invisible and holds immediate implications for coastal management.

Journal: Geophysical Research Letters

A stormy ocean voyage yields insights on the global carbon cycle

University of California - Santa Barbara
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In the midst of the COVID pandemic, scientists embarked on an ambitious research expedition to the North Atlantic to investigate the inner workings of the ocean’s carbon cycle. A series of storms hammered the three vessels, among the most advanced research ships in the world, while bureaucratic mayhem threatened to scrub the voyage entirely.

Journal: Global Biogeochemical Cycles

The smoky signature of climate change

Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new Harvard study pinpoints human-caused climate change as a key driver of western U.S. wildfire activity over the last three decades, accounting for 65% of total fire emissions from 1997-2020. Nearly half of the exposure to harmful fine-particulate matter wildfire smoke, or PM2.5, from 1997-2020 is directly linked to climate change.

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